Quendrith Johnson

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent

Once in a generation an artist comes along who can speak to the human condition in an unexpected way, specifically with large-scale wooden sculpture for Ursula von Rydingsvard. Her extraordinary journey is chronicled in documentary film URSULA VON RYDINGSVARD: INTO HER OWN from director Daniel Traub, available on Sept. 29 on VOD.

An Icarus Films release, presented by Itinerant Pictures, Von Rydingsvard’s struggle as a single mother and sorrowful child morphs into a fantastic monumental forest of her own imagining in this poetic look at personal transformation through art. Hers is a world class vision of wonder for Pandemic times. And perhaps all time, when the need for personal expression becomes a new visual vocabulary for us all.

Introducing Ursula von Rydingsvard

Official Word on URSULA VON RYDINGSVARD: INTO HER OWN

URSULA VON RYDINGSVARD: INTO HER OWN is an artistic biography of one of the few women in the world working in monumental sculpture. Von Rydingsvard’s work has been featured in the Venice Biennale and is held in the collections of some of the world’s great museums, including New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. But she may be best-known for her staggering, triumphant body of work in public spaces – imposing pieces painstakingly crafted with complex surfaces including: a series of early installations reminiscent of wings in what became New York’s Battery Park; a monumental yet inviting piece outside Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and the stunning “Scientia” at M.I.T. which evokes the power of nature and the firing of brain synapses.

In Daniel Traub’s intimate documentary, we go behind the scenes with von Rydingsvard, as she and her collaborators – cutters, metal-smiths, and others – produce new work, including challenging commissions in copper and bronze. The film also delves into the artist’s personal life, and how it has shaped her work. Born in Poland during the Second World War, she was partly raised in a displaced persons camp and came to the US as a refugee with her nine-person family. Brought up in a blue-collar environment, she became a teacher and then, as a single mother, moved to New York in the 1970s to take up her artistic practice full-time.

Interviews with curators, patrons, family, fellow artists (including luminaries such as artist Sarah Sze and museum director Adam Weinberg), as well as the artist herself, are intertwined with studio visits and behind-the-scenes footage of her mammoth creations being installed. All combine to show how, through sheer talent and determination (and countless planks of cedar), she has become one of the world’s greatest artists (and one of a very few women) working in monumental sculpture. 

Who is Daniel Traub?

DANIEL TRAUB is a New York-based filmmaker and photographer. He lived in China from 1998 to 2007, working as cinematographer on documentary films for various networks and production companies, including PBS, German television ZDF and Arte.  

More recently, Traub directed the feature-length Barefoot Artist about Lily Yeh and her collaborative artworks in war-torn communities and Xu Bing: Phoenix about the condition of Chinese migrant laborers. 

Traub’s photographs have been exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions at the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago, Slought Foundation in Philadelphia and the Lianzhou Foto Festival in China. His work can be found in public and private collections, such as The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

THIS IS ICARUS FILMS Since 1978, Icarus Films has been a leading distributor of documentary films in North America. Icarus Films meets the needs of activists, educators and service providers, challenging audiences with original creative works. 

FIND FILM WEBSITE https://intoherownfilm.com http://icarusfilms.com/if-urs 

CONNECT NOW http://icarusfilms.com https://www.facebook.com/IcarusFilms/ https://twitter.com/IcarusFilms https://www.instagram.com/icarusfilms_/

# # #