Commission
Batman and Catwoman - Mixed metals, copper and nickel electroplated components
This sculptural work stages an intimate, suspended encounter between two culturally saturated figures, re-presented here not as action icons but as participants in a moment of psychological and symbolic negotiation. Batman and Catwoman are brought into close physical proximity, their bodies interlocked in a gesture that reads simultaneously as embrace, confrontation, and mutual dependence. The composition resists narrative closure: neither figure dominates the other, and the tension between attraction and restraint becomes the primary subject of the work.
Material choice and surface treatment play a central role in reframing these familiar forms. Electroplated copper and nickel articulate a shifting visual hierarchy between warmth and coolness, reflection and absorption. The metallic skin exaggerates light, transforming the figures into reflective bodies that implicate the viewer, while the finely worked textures — reptilian patterning, faceted armor, and highly polished planes — destabilize the boundary between costume and flesh. These surfaces suggest protection and seduction simultaneously, underscoring the duality embedded in both characters.
The choreography of the figures is deliberately restrained. Catwoman’s elevated stance and forward lean introduce a sense of control and poise, while Batman’s grounded posture and contained gesture signal endurance rather than aggression. Their gazes do not resolve into romance or conflict; instead, they hover in a charged equilibrium. This ambiguity shifts the work away from cinematic storytelling and toward a sculptural meditation on power, identity, and mutual recognition.
The circular base functions not merely as support but as an integral conceptual element. Inscribed language and fragmented forms embedded into the platform introduce a second register of meaning — one that operates below the figures, literally and metaphorically. The base reads as a terrain of accumulated signals: language, symbols, and implied narratives that uphold and constrain the figures above. In this way, the sculpture acknowledges the cultural infrastructure that produces these icons while simultaneously holding them in suspension.
Ultimately, this work is less about Batman and Catwoman as characters than about what they enable: a study of intimacy under constraint, of identities shaped by armor, and of attraction negotiated through distance as much as touch. By slowing the encounter and fixing it in metal, the sculpture invites sustained looking and reflection, asking the viewer to consider how mythology, power, and desire are constructed — and how they persist.
The sculpture was developed through a hybrid process combining digital modeling, hand-fabricated forms, and electroplating. Individual components were produced using 3D-designed armatures and selectively electroformed in copper and nickel, then mechanically finished and patinated to achieve contrasting surface qualities. Final assembly emphasizes structural balance and material continuity, allowing the figures and base to function as a single integrated form.
This work continues the artist’s ongoing investigation into power, identity, and cultural mythology, using widely recognized figures as a means of examining contemporary systems of meaning. By isolating moments of psychological tension rather than narrative action, the sculpture aligns with a broader body of work that interrogates how language, symbols, and inherited structures shape individual and collective behavior.
An intimate, materially charged reconfiguration of cultural icons, this sculpture transforms familiar mythology into a sustained meditation on power, proximity, and mutual dependence.
REVIEW
This is indescribable… fluid, melting undulating contours, yet rugged and elemental. Such a dynamic interplay of light and shadow with a futuristic alien smoothness. This is magnificent.
Linda Casper FB