La Mujer Roja

Title: La Mujer Roja
Date Creation: 2000 commission
Location: 6801 Gaylord Parkway – Exterior TSG

“It is steel, big steel, bigger than life. My objective with scale is to provide interesting arcs and curvalinear intersections. Shapes and negative space are designed to speak. My 14′ x 26′ x 12′ abstract sculpture, La Mujer Roja pivots from the figurative, an odalisque, a traditionally male subject. Yet the name, author, and suggested form are feminine with contained sexuality. Arcs, curvalinear intersections and negative spaces are designed to speak. The proportions are true to the extent necessary for reading. Primary sexual attributes are mere suggestions. The sculpture challenges historical interpretation. The steel power of femininity gives the work a subtext of revolt against the expected.

My sculpture is the result of working differently within the system. In spite of perceived limits, “La Mujer Roja” has myriad layers of power.”  - Michelle O’Michael, Artist

About the Artist:

Michelle O’Michael lives and works in Houston, Texas. She makes large-scale steel sculpture that usually depict allegorical human situations. She has been awarded commissions by M.D.Anderson Hospital in Houston and the Strother Memorial commission at Baylor Women & Children’s Hospital in Dallas. She was invited to participate in an invitational exhibition in Houston, held during the 2000 International Sculpture Conference. Ms. O’Michael has been in many exhibitions including a 2001 invitational solo exhibit at the Arts Alliance of Clear Lake. Her work has been featured in art reviews, most recently in Sculpture Magazine, ArtLies, and the Houston Chronicle.