Asphere
Artist
Roni Horn
(New York, New York, 9/24/1955 - )
Title
Asphere
Creation Date
1988-1990
Century
late 20th century
Dimensions
12 x 12 11/16 in. (30 x 32 cm)
Classification
Sculpture
Creation Place
North America, United States
Medium and Support
stainless steel
Credit Line
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, gift of the artist, Charlene Engelhard Troy, and an Anonymous Donor, 1992.500, Artwork © Roni Horn, image courtesy Roni Horn studio
Copyright
This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s
Copyright Terms and Conditions.
Roni Horn’s "Ashpere" (1988–1990) represents one of a series of similar sculptures executed by the artist in different materials. Although she did not deliberately craft the works for this purpose, Horn found that she gradually came to recognize herself in the aspherical shapes, which cannot easily be categorized. They operate as self-portraits that resist the description of personal identity and gender within traditional frameworks. As she explains: “When I look at it I see that it has characteristics that I identify with very strongly. One of those qualities is that it’s not a sphere, and it’s nothing else. I can relate to that. . . . It doesn’t have a name or a word that closes it off from things.” Elsewhere, the artist reflects: “It is an homage to androgyny. It gives the experience of something initially familiar but the more time spent with it, the less familiar it becomes. I think of it as a self-portrait.”
