Viola with Gold

Robert Arneson's portrait bust depicts fellow California-based artist Viola Frey (1933–2004). Both revolutionized figurative sculpture in clay and often turned their critical eye on themselves. Each made many self-portraits, ranging from hilariously irreverent to deeply confessional. In Arneson’s hands, Frey looks dreamily outward, oblivious to the daubs and smears of paint on her face. She is at one with the materials of her craft, transforming into the figures she crafted by hand. Her hollow head—painted blue, with specks suggesting stars—might represent the possibility of new creation, like a kiln before heating up.