<I>Tantra #1</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1994
name: label: Created by
content: Barbara Chase-Riboud, American and French, born 1939
label: Produced by
content: Fonderia Bonvicini, Italian, founded 1960
notes: label: Caption
content: Esteemed author and artist Barbara Chase-Riboud is celebrated for her unique abstract sculptures that combine traditional, as well as non-traditional materials, such as bronze, silk, rayon, cotton, and wool. She states, “I decided to use silk like you would use clay, sculpting it … because silk is such a strong material and it’s practically indestructible, like bronze is indestructible.”
label: Caption
content: Tantra I is part of a tripartite series that invokes the Hindu goddess Shakti, whose various manifestations include creativity, female energy, cosmic consciousness, and power. The term tantra has numerous and complex meanings within Hindu and Buddhist traditions. Within the context of Chase-Riboud’s work, tantra may allude to doctrines associated with rituals, disciplines, meditation, and sexual practices composed as dialogues between Shakti and her male consort, Shiva.
label: Description
content: An abstract scuplture consisting of a mass of polished bronze shapes from which are suspended cascading cords of knotted silk.
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Hinduism
label: Topic
content: Sexuality
label: Topic
content: Spirituality
label: Topic
content: Women
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Roger and Caroline Ford
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2014.62
objectType: label: Type
content: sculpture
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Barbara Chase-Riboud
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: polished bronze, silk and synthetic silk
label: Dimensions
content: 79 x 52 x 32 in. (200.7 x 132.1 x 81.3 cm)