Miss Expanding Universe

<p>Made of lightweight aluminum, <em>Miss Expanding Universe</em> resulted from the intellectual and romantic partnership between modernist sculptor Isamu Noguchi and Chicago dancer and choreographer Ruth Page. In 1932 Page per- formed an avant-garde dance, <em>Expanding Universe</em>, wearing a futuristic jersey sack designed by Noguchi; only her head and feet emerged from its stretchy, cocooning shape, a constraint evoked by the sculpture’s abstract form.</p> <p>Noguchi here combined machine-age streamlining with the austere characteristics of ancient Japanese funerary objects (<em>haniwa</em>). Born in the United States, he lived in Japan until he was thirteen years old, and later extensively studied the country’s sculptural traditions and ceramics.</p>