Jane Manus American, b. 1951

Characterizing herself as a Constructivist-turned-Minimalist, who “can’t do anything else” but make art, Jane Manus produces abstract sculptures that punctuate the spaces into which they are set with their brightly colored surfaces and bold forms. Her three-dimensional constructions—ranging from furniture to wall-mounted pieces to freestanding, monumental works—spring from rough sketches.

While she has experimented with wood and steel, she turned exclusively to aluminum early in her career. Manus cites early Constructivist sculpture, Minimalism, Modern architecture, and bridges among her influences, as well as fellow sculptors Marc di Suvero and Anthony Caro. In her works, she explores symmetry, balance, and form through carefully positioned geometric shapes, often squares and rectangles, and linear forms. At once industrial and organic, the hard angles and highly finished surfaces of her pieces are softened by references to the human body and nature (via Artsy).