Pia Avis
Pia Avis
Artist
Lenore Tawney
(1907 - 2007)
Date1969
MediumWood, clay, paint, and bone
Dimensions6 1/4 × 6 3/8 × 4 7/8 in. (15.9 × 16.2 × 12.4 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, Gift of the Lenore G. Tawney Foundation, 2022.13
Accession number
2022.13
DescriptionTawney was deeply interested in the work of Carl Jung whose “Alchemical Studies” provided the inspiration for this title. “Pia Avis” is a representation of the “devout bird.”On View
Not on viewLabel TextTawney created many assemblages—sculptures made from various items she collected. Like her two-dimensional collages, the assemblages show how she creatively reimagined the material world around her. She used unexpected and poetic combinations, often including bird-related items like feathers, eggshells, and bone.
She named this work “Pia Avis” after the “devout bird” described in the book Alchemical Studies by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung (1875–1961). In alchemy, this bird is an ancient symbol merging the spiritual and physical worlds.
Tawney creó muchos ensamblajes, esculturas hechas con objetos que había recolectado. Al igual que sus collages bidimensionales, los ensamblajes muestran cómo reinventaba creativamente el mundo material que la rodeaba. Utilizaba combinaciones inesperadas y poéticas, a menudo con objetos relacionados con las aves, como plumas, cáscaras de huevo y huesos.
Tituló esta obra “Pía Avis” por el “pájaro devoto” descrito en el libro Estudios alquímicos del psiquiatra suizo Carl Jung (1875–1961). En alquimia, este pájaro es un antiguo símbolo que fusiona los mundos espiritual y físico.
