Battle Not Won
Sheila Oetringer
1989
Stoneware Clay
Roseman Building
The Figure represents a woman with children who is attempting to balance both "mother" and "career woman" roles. Oettinger’s studio is in Evanston, Illinois. About her approach to sculpture, Oettinger writes: "My work reflects a long standing commitment to explore new and innovative ways to represent the human figure in sculpture. I am interested in the emotional and psychological content of this subject matter, the relationships of form to space and that of one figure to another, and most recently, the figure used in the service of an idea or as narrative." Oettinger also noted that "most all of my work begins as clay and is modeled rather than carved... Most sculptures remain as clay and are fired into stoneware. The clay I use is a very vitreous material which when fired is as hard as granite and is ideal for outdoors, being both durable and weatherproof."