Paysage humain (du cycle ‘Paysages humains), 1971-2
Regarded as one of the most significant post-war sculptors of the 20th century, Szapocznikow is renowned for producing tinted, polyester casts of the human body characterised by both sensuality and trauma. During the late 1960s and early 70s, the artist made a series of fetishistic ‘lamps' and utilitarian objects that piece together breasts and mouths cast from the artist's own body. The fragmented nature of Szapocznikow’s sculptures arguably speaks to the distress which pervaded her life. Having been interned in several concentration camps during WWII, the artist was to face further adversity when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, subsequently dying at the age of 47.