Cosmic Series Como

An ethereal sculpture that suggests the ever-expanding nature of the universe, Yvonne Bobrowicz’s Cosmic Series Como exemplifies her practice as it has developed over the past five decades. Bobrowicz constructs nebulous forms with monofilament that she knots in a regular pattern of two and then four threads, she then hand embellishes lengths of the thread with gold leaf. To make Cosmic Series Como, Bobrowicz modified and expanded an earlier sculpture, dividing a single translucent form into two and then adding a single narrow gossamer veil of the same length in the aperture between and behind them. Select knots of this new delicate cascade shine with gold and the spaces between these three frothy diaphanous forms give the sculpture a sense of lightness and extend an invitation to the viewer. Within the translucent sculpture, to add density and opacity, Bobrowicz tied short lengths of linen to strands of the monofilament. Her choice of the linen, a natural fiber derived from flax, contrasts markedly with the synthetic monofilament, likewise, the luxurious nature of the gold leaf when juxtaposed with the quotidian nylon monofilament commonly used as fishing line explores the notion of opposites hinting at the push and pull of energy fields and atomic structures.

Cosmic Series Como has been featured in nine exhibitions over three decades, and always remained in the artist’s collection. As she refined her practice and the theories that inform it, she shifted the form of the work, which stands as a key sculpture in her oeuvre. Bobrowicz’s current work remains tied to her foundational artistic training. From 1946-1949, Bobrowicz attended the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where she studied with the distinguished weaver Marianne Strengell. During these studies and in the years immediately following her tenure at Cranbrook, Bobrowicz produced functional handwoven furnishing fabrics. Many of these early textiles demonstrate her approach to combining materials, and feature varying types of textured yarns made of natural fibers, as well as synthetics including rayon, fiberglass, polyolefin, and Lurex. In 1955-56, Bobrowicz took a class with Anni Albers at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art (now the University of the Arts) that proved fundamental and formative. Although she continued to combine materials, she shifted her practice from the functional to the sculptural and took advantage of the fact that DuPont was giving monofilament away in an effort to promote the nylon thread. With the stretchy, springy, synthetic thread, Bobrowicz developed her knotting technique that produces a voluminous and intentionally illegible structure.