Lucina Ward on Wangechi Mutu’s The seated IV

The seated IV is a larger-than-life-sized female figure—one of four female figures produced for The NewOnes, will free Us, a project at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art—and subsequently cast in a small edition. Historically, caryatids function as supports in Classical buildings. With this sculpture, Mutu considers what might happen if these female figures were released from their burdens.

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