To feel the pulse of everyday life, the ebb and flow of its fleeting moments, represents a need for Marina Donati. To seize the instant when the mind re-creates a gesture; or to apprehend these things in space, among natural obstacles such as the wind, the cold, the volume of a wall or the weight of a piece of clothing.

It is all there: in the frail bodies and featureless faces, some serene, others speaking of strain. And the hands, obsessive, groping, yearning for one another, now offering, now holding back.

Plaster, wax, then bronze, and the base too, showing the sculpture, relaying its message. Each piece tells a story - that of the sculptress, of her convictions and her doubts, perhaps our own as well. Who could not identify with her men and women as they seem to reflect, or run away, or love, or simply take a walk together ? There, for all to see, is the unconcealed hope, despair to be reckoned with, insurmountable inner or exterior barriers.

The artist's deep feeling for life with its turmoil, for others, torn between strength and vulnerability, is clearly seen. Marina Donati's hands give and receive, create and express fear, always signifying the essential of her fellow man.

Nicole Landau