Elaine King Interview for Sculpture Magazine

Unruly Forms: A Conversation with Nancy Davidson

Though Nancy Davidson has worked in multiple mediums over the course of her prolific career, she is best known for her enormous, flamboyant sculptures made of latex balloons and vinyl-coated nylon. These quirky, vibrantly colored inflatables lightheartedly blend absurdity and humor, but they also raise social and political issues in an upbeat, playful manner. Their soft, lightweight, and erotically pliable characteristics serve as a purposely feminist retort to the rigidity and heaviness of male-dominated Minimalism, while comic and grotesque elements operate as “Rabelaisian” tools of celebration and social critique. Davidson’s carnival of unruly forms, inspired by everything from Eva Hesse to pop-culture icons like Mae West and cowgirls, to ancient goddesses of the Mediterranean, turn expectations upside down, seducing viewers into examining what lies beneath the surface.

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Hive, 2020 Installation at Krannert Museum, Illinois: 2 18' inflatables, fabric, LED lighting program, electronic wiring Photo Credit Della Perrone

Dustup, 2012: 16' x 20' x 20' size variable, installation photo, inflatables, fabric, rope, leather, blowers, sandbags, sawdust, sound element