Women: States of Being

Women: States of Being is a sculpture series exploring the universality of human emotion through the intimate moments of contemporary women. These sculptures allow us to encounter diverse individual women across cultural backgrounds, ages, races, body types and sexual orientations.

The women are portrayed unclothed, immersed in their own inward contemplation. The vulnerability of their naked human presence allows us to experience these women in an authentic state of being, not often found in the interactions of daily living.

This series celebrates the diversity of the contemporary female body and depicts women in non-classical positions that do not pander to the aesthetic interests of the viewer. Their bodies retain their personal agency and the right to simply exist for themselves, free from social constraints. Purposefully ambiguous poses allow the viewer to engage their own personal interpretations.

The sculptures are created entirely from observation of the model and without the use of photographic images. An in-depth visual study of the body is combined with an intuitive response to the emotional presence of the individual posing. The model’s experience of resting in the same position over time allows for inwardly contemplative moments to develop naturally. The forms of the body are built up by adding and subtracting clay, resulting in a highly textured surface that shows the tools marks and fingerprints of the creation process. This evidence is left visible on the surface of the final work, suggesting that the sculpture itself is still in a state of becoming.

These figure sculptures invite us to listen beyond the social identity of an individual and connect to their essential humanity. By allowing us to experience their intimate moments of contemplation, we encounter the individual women and at the same time, encounter aspects of ourselves within them.

Three Minutes with Melanie Furtado : a new film by Guillaume Ulmann.

Press Excerpts

"The sculpture series, Women: States of Being by Melanie Furtado, offers a novel yet distinctly familiar representation of the female form. Whether viewed together or apart, these sculptures defy traditional standards of beauty. Not conforming to a single body type, some are curvaceous, others skinny, one is wrinkled with age, while another is heavily pregnant. Contrary to an idealized or abstracted nude, Melanie presents the naked female body in profoundly intimate poses - standing before a mirror, reclining with legs propped up, collapsed over with head against the wall, and lying in the fetal position. These unusual postures express an array of emotional states - wistful, forlorn, nostalgic, hopeful, overwhelmed... The small scale draws us closer to these sculptures, as we seek to understand exactly what these women contemplate. Yet, on closer inspection, we are reminded that these are not simulacra. Massaged and stroked, the worked surface reveals the sculptor’s hand."

- Lauren Jimerson, Art Historian
In Conversation : Art Historian Lauren Jimerson with Sculptor Melanie Furtado, WhiteHot Magazine of Contemporary Art

"In her sculptural series, Women: States of Being, Melanie Furtado gives us a much welcome alternative to the stale, one-dimensional male gaze. Furtado’s women, young and old, come in all shapes and sizes. They might be nude but this is not an exercise in seduction. Instead, immersed in their own inward reality and stripped of their social status they give us a glimpse into their inner world and a piece of their soul.

These bodies wobble, bend and sag. They show us their back, they ignore us, they don’t care whether we might like them or not. They are lost in their own thoughts, too busy being to bother about how they are seen. Their skin is not smooth, their blemishes are exposed, their bodies are flawed and they look both uncompromising and movingly human for it."

- Fabienne Jenny Jacquet, Artist & Writer
Women: States of Being, Melanie Furtado, Tainted Glory Art Blog