Unsteady Steadiness
By Jane DeDecker, Installed 1989
Jane DeDecker has been sculpting the human figure for over thirty-five years. She seeks to capture moments that reveal truths about the human condition, that, when stripped down to their essence, are understood intrinsically. As a figurative sculptor, she communicates emotional experience through lyrical compositions that move the viewer. DeDecker’s sculptures stop life in mid-sentence – somewhere between inhaling and exhaling – and gives it form. She tells a story through the simple moments that imprint our lives and define us.
DeDecker was born in Marengo, Iowa in 1961. She grew up with nine sisters and brothers on a family farm, and her art work reflects a connection to nature, both the environment and human nature. As DeDecker works the clay, concepts emerge from memories and observations of life. Impressions of something felt, seen, or heard take three-dimensional form. A family rising with the dawn becomes a spiritual awakening. A woman worn thin by her burdens opens the possibility of a lightness of being. A man managing a wheelbarrow reminds us of the steadfast patience to balance life’s abundance.
