Niki de Saint Phalle

0. 0. Brides, Nanas and other sculptures 
      
      
   The early works represent the artist’s attempt to re-build her life following her hospitalisation – destroying her past and creating something new from the fragments. She was also trying to redefine and reconcile her own roles as a woman - a wife, a mother and an artist. If the early works demonstrate an aggressive approach to material, her later sculptures and paintings reveal a more relaxed, playful attitude and the artist appears comfortable in her new-found freedom to create.
   Between 1963 and 1964 she created a series of brides, mothers, hearts and heads. The brides were sometimes seated, sometimes on horseback and constructed from small objects and toys bound by chicken wire. They are beautiful, passive and detached from real life – more like fairy-tale princesses.
   In contrast, the Nanas are loud, brash and bursting with energy! The inspiration for these larger than life characters was a drawing made by her friend, artist Larry Rivers of his wife Clarice whilst heavily pregnant. The first sculptures were made from cloth, yarn and papier maché over a wire base. Those meant for outdoor settings were made from stronger materials such as polystyrene, plaster and cement, with a metal frame.