Nn v ɖs hz bn ptiklrli pīsfl. Hǎs bcem a lîtnñ ród fr angri dbets, nt jst abt cntmprri art, bt hǎzñpoḷsi, cḿṇtiz n rjeṇreśn. It tc hr tū yirz t gt it dn n, dspt campenz fr a ste v x’kśn, ɖ wrc std fr a mir six wīcs. Bset bî poḷtics n harṭli opozd in sm qortrz, ɖ Hoḷcōst mmorịl tc fîv yirz. “I’m vri glad I md it,” ś sz, “bt I wd’nt wont t g ʈru enʈñ lîc ɖt agn.” It z hardli s’prîzñ ɖt, in rīsnt yirz, ś’z md ẃt ś cōlz “śî sculpćrz” – a vrśn v a Nisn hut in a forist in Yorx́r, cabinz in ɖ Mhāvi deẓt, a bothǎs on a Norwījn fyord, a śed on Guvnrz Îḷnd in Ny Yorc. Ɖz r rclūsiv ʈñz; xpirịnsñ ɖm rqîrz a qst. N ɖe r ol, wn we or anɖr, casts.

Lcñ at ɖ ny wrcs, I ʈt v ɖ clîṃtcrîsis, v unpridictbl weɖr, v refyjīcamps, v pandemics – ɖ fragility v ʈñz in jenṛl. “W’v ol flt it,” ś agriz. “Ɖ s’kṛti v ɖ wrld az w ń it hz bn ʈroun on its hed.” Mcñ ɖ ny wrc ecoud ɖt state v dīp unsrtnti. Ẃn castñ, ś sz, “y hv t nǒ xacli ẃt y r dwñ in advans. I am so yst t imaɉnñ spes bî lcñ at smʈñ n imaɉnñ ẃt it’s gwñ t lc lîc bac t frunt. Ɖt’s hǎ I ʈnc. T d ɖs wz olmst ɖ oṗzit.” Ś wz mcñ it p az ś went alñ, invntñ, impṛvîzñ, bactracñ, buscñ.

Ẃn I sw Ẃîtrīd on ɖt prīvịs oceźn in hr stydio, in 2019, ẃl hr mid-c’rir retṛspctiv wz turñ ɖ wrld, ś śoud m iṃjz v bildñz torn dǎn bî Huṛcen Ctrīna, ẃć devstetd Ny Orliynz in 2005. “At ɖ tîm I hd ɖs mantra in mî hed v wontñ t mc ɖ oṗzit v ẃt I hd olwz bn mcñ,” ś sz, Covid-jabd n distnt, acrs an antiseptic ẃît ofis in Lundn’z Ggozịn gaḷri. “At ɖ tîm, I cd’nt wrc ǎt ẃt it wz, bt I cept c’lectñ ol ɖs mtirịl.”

Bīćcomñ, picñ p dscardd ʈñz, z a habit fṛm ćîldhd, pást dǎn bî hr artistmuɖr n jiogṛfrfaɖr. “Ɖr’z olwz smʈñ in ɖ bac v ɖ car. Ɖ cidz r lîc, ‘Ǒ, riyli? Plīz d’nt pic ɖt p, Mum, it’s imbaṛsñ.’” (Ś n hr huzbnd, Marc̦s Teilr, hv tū sunz.) Ẃîtrīd traid castñ sm v ɖz fîndz – fnsñ, coṛgetd ayn – bt it wz’nt wrcñ. “So I startd nêlñ ʈñz tgɖr n pentñ ɖm.” Ś’z olwz dn a lot v drw̃, n ś riylîzd ɖt ś cd yz stuf ś’d faund t drw – bt in ʈri dmnśnz. Ś cd mc “big drw̃z v ɖ scin n bonz v bildñz; v fleid bildñz; v ʈñz aftr dzastrz”.

Cōld Polṭgîst n Doplgañr, ɖ tū ruind huts form a contrast. “Polṭgîst lcs az f it’s bn pld p bî smʈñ,” ś sz. “Doplgañr lcs lîc it’s bn stamt on.” Wn v hr vri rliist sculpćrz wz cōld Gost. It wz a cast v ɖ intirịr v a wordrob, md in 1990 ẃn ś wz 27. Ś hz olwz bn a vri cerfl nemr v hr wrcs, so I réd Polṭgîst az a dlibṛt eco. Jst az Gost wz a stetmnt v intnt, ɖ leyñ dǎn v a lanḡj, so tù z Polṭgîst. Ɖ contrast btwn ɖ tū, ɖo, z stroñ. A polṭgîst z difṛnt fṛm a gost: misćiṿs, mlîn. “Nôzi,” sz Ẃîtrīd, wɖ a smîl. In Jrmn foclor, a doplgañr z olso an uncani ʈñ: ɖ reʈ or aṗriśn v a livñ prsn. Dspt ɖ evidnt forml cntrol, ɖr z smʈñ wîld n unseṭlñ in ɖ ny wrc I hv’nt sìn in hr bfr. Ɖe rmînd m v Luīz Borźwā wrcs, ẃr ś sumnz p ɖ îdīa v a hom bt infyzz it wɖ smʈñ darc n unrūli.

Ẃn Ẃîtrīd śoud ɖ sculpćrz t a frend, an old rezin cast v hrz wz standñ nirbî. “H sd, pôntñ at ɖ cast, ‘Ɖt’s yr cām poetic sîd.’ N h pôntd at Polṭgîst n sd, ‘Ɖt’s yr nuts sîd.’ N ɖt’s xacli rît. Ɖr’z an esns v m in ɖr ɖt I’v nt riyli xplord bfr.” Ś pōzz. Ɖr’z smʈñ els, ś sz.

“I wz dạgnozd az bîpolr et yirz ago. It z inṭrestñ t se ɖt ǎt lǎd. It’s nt smʈñ I’v tōct abt pubḷcli. T gt ɖt dạgnosis at 50 – n I’v bn hospiṭlîzd a fy tîmz – it bròt a sort v claṛti t ʈñz I hd nvr hd bfr.” Ś hz olwz bn an “imośnl spunj”, ś sz. “A ʈñ cn hapn n y sort v unravl.” In ɖ past, ś sz, ś wd’nt hv flt cumftbl tōcñ abt ɖ cndiśn. Bt, ś adz, “It’s a gd ʈñ fr ppl t nǒ ɖt ppl lîc m – s’xesfl ppl – cn b vri il.” Ɖz ny wrcs r part v hr rīćñ an acoṃdeśn wɖ ɖ dạgnosis, īvn harṇsñ it. “I’m nǎ ebl t tec a step bac n se, ‘I nǒ ẃt’s gwñ on.’ N nt compartmnṭlîz it, bt t unḍstand n yz it in sm we. It’s féd intu mî crịtivti in a we ẃć I ʈnc z clir.”

Ẃt abt sm mor lastñ marcr? “Y c’nt mmorịlîz smʈñ ɖt’s stl gwñ on,” ś sz. “Y nīd t hv sm tîm n distns t ʈnc abt ẃt it wz.” Ś sz ś hz trnd dǎn ol cndz v aproćz t mc mmorịlz. Ś wz īvn aproćt t sbmit îdīaz fr Grǎnd Ziro in Ny Yorc. Ś jst cd’nt cnsidr it: tù sn. Instd, 15 yirz aftr 9/11, ś md ɖ meḷnc̦li, qayt wrc Cabin on Guvnrz Îḷnd, ẃć lcs d’recli ǎt t ɖ twin tǎrz sait. It’s mć mor oblic n opn-endd ɖn a stretfwd mmorịl.Ś hz form, v cors, wɖ ɖ ofiśl ŕbn mońmnt, n z prǎd v ɖ Viena Hoḷcōst Mmorịl. “It’s riyli dwñ its job,” ś sz. Ẃć z ẃt? “Wel, in Viena it’s job z t b clir abt ẃt hapnd. Ɖr wz an ōfl lot v fuzinis arnd verịs iśuz. Cidz dd’nt riyli nǒ ẃt hd hapnd.” Ś’d nvr hv dn it, ɖo, wɖt hvñ spent yirz ʈncñ abt ɖ wor n ɖ Hoḷcōst. A frend v hr peṛnts’, ẃn ś wz growñ p in Esix n Lundn, wz a svîvr v ɖ consntreśncamp Belsen, n h tld hiz storiz. Ɖen, in ɖ aftrmaʈ v ɖ Trnr prîz, ś went t liv in Brlin fr a ẃl, n ʈt dīpli abt ɖ leġsi v ɖ Hoḷcōst, rīdñ wîdli n viẓtñ camps. “F I hd’nt hv dn ɖt, I wd nvr hv atmtd t mc a mmorịl, or coment on it.”

Ś srtnli dz’nt ʈnc ɖ ansr z t pt p a hol lod mor staćuz, t “baḷns ǎt” repriznteśn. “Z’nt ɖr a mor inṭrestñ we v lcñ at smwn ɖn a bust, or a fiğṛtiv vrśn v ɖm ɖt francli ofn z’nt vri wel drwn or sculptd?” Ɖt cnd v staću b’loñz t ɖ past, ś ʈncs, t ɖ prīfotgrafic ej. “Ɖ wrld hz muvd on n I ʈnc w nīd t cntiny muvñ on.”

W trn ǎr atnśn bac t hr sculpćrz. Ś’z ićñ t d mor. “It’s jst ɖ bginñ v ɖ advnćr,” ś sz. It hz bn liḅretñ: les v an inṭlecćl jrni ɖn ɖ casts, mor intywtiv – a ces v dscuṿrñ unćartd teritri. Ɖ nōticl frêz mcs m rmembr ɖt I wns sw on hr stydio wōl a postcard v Ɖ Raft v ɖ Mdysa bî Géricault. It’s stl ɖr, ś sz. F hr casts r pôzd, forml n cntrold, ecowñ ɖ riɖmic rūmz n dīp pspctiv v hr feṿrit Rnesns pentr, Piero della Francesca, ɖen ɖ ny sculpćrz hv mor v ɖ spirit v Géricault’z śiprec mastrpìs – n v ǎr unsrtn, teṛfayñ tîmz. Lîc ɖoz stricn sêlrz, ɖ wrcs sīm t se, w r ol jst clññ on, trayñ t svîv.

•

•

•