Claire Falkenstein was an artistic polymath. Early in her career, she began using wire and metal rods in her sculptures out of economic necessity but continued to use them even when she was less restricted financially. Falkenstein often referred to her three-dimensional creations as “structures” (rather than “sculptures”), in which she integrated open or negative space to explore what she called “topology”: “a connection between matter and space, incorporating a concept of the continuous void in nature.”
In 1950, Falkenstein moved to Paris, where she became part of the American expatriate artist community. As she later remarked, this period abroad allowed her to “develop [her] own vocabulary.” Untitled is one of the earliest instances in which she integrated molten glass into her freestanding structures, producing a rough but beautiful interplay of light and form.
Carol Eliel and Lauren Hanson
