Kiki Smith – Lilith (1994)
“Smith’s art is devoted to the exploration of the human body, inside and out. This deliberately unsettling sculpture was created from life casts of a female model and, in accordance with the artist’s instructions, it is hung so that Lilith clings to the wall upside down, staring up at the viewer with glass eyes. The title refers to an ancient Sumerian demon, a creature of the air who, in post-biblical Hebrew legend is identified as Adam’s intended first wife, who flew away when he refused to accept her as his equal. Long relegated to the realms of superstition and viewed as an evil spirit dangerous to men and children, Lilith has been reinterpreted in recent decades as an ideal of female strength and independence.”