Living and working in TriBeCa, Linda Stein found herself in a disaster zone on September 11, 2001.  Residents of lower Manhattan were horrified as office workers fell from the flaming World TradeTowers.  Stein was evacuated from her studio, and not able to return for several months.  To this day she cannot walk past the “Ground Zero” site.

Not surprisingly, her sculpture has taken a new and very dramatic direction since that day.  Armored figures have appeared in her art – not the “knights of yore,” but female warriors as symbols of protection in an increasingly hostile environment.  Like classical torsos, they are sculptural fragments in the tradition of the Venus de Milo.  Such ancient figures convey strength and vitality within the body trunk itself.  Encrusted with materials that can be viewed as either symbolic or defensive, these sculptures have a dazzling visual effect. 

Larger-than-life, Stein’s figures are both vital and vulnerable.  While they convey femaleness, some with breasts and curving torsos, they are monumentally postured and unyielding.  Their protective body empowers them, and assures these remarkable images a continuing relevance in our world.