Medulla
Date1995
Label Text"Calderon sculpts sensuously textured, ambiguous forms. He combines a few different ideas into a new hybrid intended to elicit a 'yearning to understand.' 'Medulla,' an abstract, iconic bronze, invites many associations: an urn, a heart, an insect nest, and Buddha's head. It took him several days to create the individual protrusions that decorate the object's surface. Calderon remembers feeling both devotion and penance as he worked on the wax shell used for the bronze casting. He likes the mysterious and surreal fantasy of a Buddha whose head is covered entirely with hair."
Object number96.72
ProvenanceThe artist; [Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, Washington]; purchased from gallery by Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1996
Photo Credit© Mark Calerdon
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Five Installations on the Fourth Floor: Varieties of Sculpture, June 26, 1997.
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Asian Affinities, Aug. 28, 1999 - Jan. 2, 2001.
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, International Abstraction: Making Painting Real, May 2, 2003 - Feb. 29, 2004.
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Contemporary Art: Made in Seattle–A Northwest Summer, May 4 - July 23, 2006.
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Reverberations: Contemporary Art and Modern Classics, Dec. 22, 2022 - ongoing.
Credit LineNorthwest Acquisition Fund
Dimensions15 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. (39.37 x 24.13 x 24.13 cm)
MediumCast bronze