Work

This three-volume publication is a visual journey through forty years of Nancy Rubins’ sculptures and drawings. The first two volumes begin with Rubins’ student work, where her themes, methods and ambitions emerge. The first volume moves through numerous large-scale sculptures incorporating massive quantities of used electric appliances with concrete and rebar, then on to trailers, hot water heaters, mattresses, airplane parts, and small boats held in suspended tension by webs of cables. The second volume explores Rubins’ often gigantic and sculptural drawings, densely covered with graphite pencil marks that embody the intense and abundant energy of their making. A final booklet with a series of playful and candid self-portrait photographs taken at the Baltimore train station photo booth in 1972–4 completes Work.