Dress Impression with Train

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Dress Impression with Train

Artist Karen LaMonte American, born 1967

Date2005 (design), 2007 (casting)

DimensionsH: 58 ¼ in. (148 cm); W: 22 ½ in. (57 cm); Depth: 43¼ in. (110 cm)

MediumHollow female sculpture cast in colorless soda-lime glass in four pieces (upper torso, lower torso, skirt, and train); sandblasted and acid polished. The cast rose/knot is adhered with silicone glue.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, by exchange

Object number

2008.148

On View

Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion (2444 Monroe Street), Glass Pavilion Gallery, 1

Collections

Glass

Published ReferencesReich, Paula, Toledo Museum of Art: Map and Guide, London, Scala, 2009, p. 61, repr. (col.).

Nash, Steven, “Karen LaMonte: Nocturnes,” New York, NY, Art Works Publishing, 2019, repr. (col.) p. 217.

Exhibition HistoryDüsseldorf, Germany, Glasmuseum Hentrich, Museum Kunst Palast, Karen LaMonte - Sculptures, 2008 (no catalog).Comparative ReferencesSee also New York, Katonah Museum of Art, Shattering Glass: New Perspectives, 2006 (exhibition catalogue). cf. Danto, Arthur C. and Juli Cho Bailer, Karen LaMonte: Absence Adorned, Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, May 2006. (exhibition catalogue: exhibition held at Tacoma, Museum of Glass: International Center for Contemporary Art, 2006). cf. Doy, Gen, "Immaterial/Material...Works by Karen LaMonte," NEUES GLASS/NEW GLASS, no. 1/2006, Spring 2006, cover, pp. 10-17. cf. Genocchio, Benjamin, "Really? It's All Made of Glass?," NEW YORK TIMES, December 30, 2007.Label TextTo create her life-sized glass sculptures, Karen LaMonte, who works in the Czech Republic, makes a wax casting of a woman’s body, which she then dresses in an evening gown. She makes another mold of this clothed figure and casts it in glass. The inner cavity retains a haunting image of the imprint of the body once enveloped by the gown. The flowing folds of its drapery, permanently captured in glass, define the sculpture’s ghostly translucent exterior. The “empty” dress serves as a memento mori (“remember you must die”), evoking the ephemeral quality of our corporeal selves and the fragility of the human condition. Further, it references the idea of clothing as a kind of controlling container. The formal gown with train requires carefully measured movement for a graceful entrance or exit. It projects ideals of appearance and wealth promoted by high fashion, while questioning the psychological and social implications of the way we dress.