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Alison Saar

Alison Saar (American, b. 1956)
Inheritance, 2009
Bronze and cotton cloth 
Edition of 9, Santa Barbara City College Foundry
Westmont College Acquisition 

Inheritance is a table-top sculpture that resulted from a collaboration between the artist and the Atkinson Gallery at Santa Barbara Community College. It represents the artist’s mother, Betye Saar, when she was just a girl, carrying a large ball of white cotton cloths on her head. Betye tells a story of losing her father at a tender age, and how he called her to his death bed telling her: Take care of your mother and siblings. The huge ball on the child’s head represents the enormity and weight of such a promise. The title, Inheritance, reminds the viewer that families often “bequeath” to the younger generation immense responsibilities––either literally or emotionally, or perhaps both.  

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