Fredy E Wubben - 85 years!

A voyage of discovery in material and form

In her early years, Fredy explored materials that are little taken for granted within sculpture. She experimented with neoprene, rubber, rough linen, textiles cast in bronze and jute. She combined these seemingly limp, fragile materials with robust stainless steel and Corten steel, creating a fascinating contrast. The tension between soft and hard gave her work a layered visual power.

From small to monumental

The variation in her work is also visible in scale. Fredy made both small sculptures and large sculptures in public spaces. For instance, her work ‘Tight’ is part of the West Frisian Zeedijkroute, and ‘Z.T. two materials, one sculpture’ was floating in the moat at Groeneveld Castle. These larger works were the stepping stone to her monumental sculpture, including the sculpture on Houtrustbrug in The Hague and ‘Three Drops’ in Wognum - both still publicly admired.

The power of glass and vulnerability

Fredy's curiosity later led her to the material glass. In cast glass, she created, among others, the series of heads such as ‘Sacra Conversazione’, in which two figures on fused steps seem to whisper their story. This was followed by blown glass and the moving series ‘Homo Bulla's’ - a poetic commentary on man's vulnerability, depicted as a bubble. In ‘Homo Bulla Body body’, impermanence becomes painfully visible: screaming people carry a body through Indian streets to the Ganges, on its way to death.