Artwork copyright Sarah Sze. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Sarah Sze. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Sarah Sze. Photo courtesy of the artist (detail).

Artwork copyright Sarah Sze. Photo courtesy of the artist (detail).

Artwork copyright Sarah Sze. Photo courtesy of the artist, by Manuel Rodrigo del Pozo.

Artwork copyright Sarah Sze. Photo courtesy of the artist, by Manuel Rodrigo del Pozo.

Artwork copyright Sarah Sze. Photo courtesy of the artist, by Manuel Rodrigo del Pozo.

Split Stone (Northwest), 2019

Sarah Sze
(American, born 1969)

Location: Western Washington University, Bellingham

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Split Stone (Northwest) is a sculpture created by artist Sarah Sze for Western Washington University in Bellingham. After splitting a natural granite boulder into two halves, she created a pixelated image of the sky on each side, based on a photograph. The question of whether the photograph shows a sunrise or sunset interested her. The artwork plays with ideas of what is fleeting and what is permanent, combining the two ideas but also leaving them open-ended.

Sze notes that this artwork explores "the fragility of time passing and our desire for weight and permanence in the face of both overwhelming natural forces and the ubiquitous images that surround us daily." In addition, “The project explores the idea of landscape and image in many forms: images of landscapes; sculptures as landscapes in themselves; and the altered landscape of the Western Washington campus."

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Western Washington University.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

New York City-based artist Sarah Sze expands the boudaries between painting, sculpture, video, and installation. Her artworks question the value society places on images and objects, and how they assign meaning to the places and times we live in. Her artworks range from intimate paintings to expansive installations and public artworks that cover entire walls and buildings.

Sarah Sze serves as a professor of visual art at Columbia University. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University in Connecticut in 1991 and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1997. Her works are collected by many international institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), and the Tate Modern museum in London, England. In 2013, she represented the United States at the Venice Biennale international art exhibition in Italy.