PHOTO: A call for quietude

Standing 80 feet tall, ‘Water’s Soul’ is the tallest public sculpture to-date from internationally renowned artist Jaume Plensa and has been permanently installed in the Newport development on the Hudson River in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Overlooking the Hudson River directly across from Lower Manhattan, Water’s Soul depicts the serene face of a young subject holding a finger to her lips in a state of silent contemplation. The sculptural portrait, though monumental in scale, humbly gestures for quietude, a beckoning towards empathetic self-reflection.

“The water, when it moves, makes a special sound, very special,” said Plensa who reveals the message is “to keep silent, … to listen to the profound noise of the water talking to us.”

Depicting a real-life model whose image was scanned, the piece was fashioned from polyester resin, fiberglass, and marble dust at Plensa’s Barcelona studio in Spain and shipped in 23 containers, each 40 feet (12 meters long), to the Jersey City site for assembly.

The sculpture will be dedicated on site in a ceremony on October 21, 2021.

Source: Reuters