The Presence of Absence: Sculpture, Space, and the Self
Miciah Hussey, Publications Manager, YCBA, will discuss works by Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore in the exhibition Going Modern: British Art, 1900–1960 that explore the relationship between positive and negative space, offering a lens into understanding the modern self.
About this program
Join us in the galleries to explore how twentieth-century British sculpture represents the modern self. Looking at sculptures by Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, this talk will consider how negative space—empty gaps, spaces, or holes within the sculpture—can offer a quiet space for reflection, inviting the viewer to pause and engage emotionally with their inner self.
The program will also draw on the writings and ideas of Virginia Woolf, John Keats, and Roger Fry as ways of contemplating the world around us.
About Miciah Hussey
Miciah Hussey is Publications Manager at the YCBA. His research focuses on the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British novel, critical theory, and visual studies. His scholarship, criticism, and personal essays have appeared in numerous publications including Artforum, Art in America, Momus, and The Bellevue Review. He has contributed to monographs on contemporary artists such as Ellen Berkenblit, Genesis Tramaine, and Andro Wekua. He is currently completing a book on the aesthetics of grief.
