Ursula Von Rydingsvard

In the summer of 2013, Ursula von Rydingsvard recounts her process and transformations as an artist. She recalls her early years at Columbia, where she initially worked with fabric and steel. While working in the campus metal shop, a monk gave her a grouping of clearance cedar 4x4's. This gift sparked a life long career in making over-sized cedar wood sculptures.

Von Rydingsvard speaks poignantly and poetically about her artistic relationship with her primary medium of wood. While the metal that she formerly used was rigid and geometric, von Rydingsvard finds a sensuous and organic alternative in cedar. She discusses how she works to divorce the wood from associations with niceties, superstition, or kitsch.

Often spending months on a single project, von Rydingsvard earnestly avoids making sketches and models unless the finished works are destined to be translated into metal, like her forthcoming Barclay's Center public sculpture. Attempting to soften the harsh environment of the Brooklyn stadium while maintaining its integrity, she built the piece out of cedar but had it manufactured into metal. The artist also discusses her upcoming works at Princeton and the East Wing of the National Gallery.

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