Rona Pondick’s "Pine Marten" Acquired by the Addison Gallery of American Art

Rona Pondick, Pine Marten, 2000–01, stainless steel, edition of 6 + 1 AP, 9 x 18 7/8 x 6 3/4 in; 22.86 x 47.94 x 17.14 cm

Rona Pondick’s Pine Marten (2000–01) has entered the permanent collection of the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Founded in 1931, the Addison holds a collection of more than 29,000 works spanning American art from the eighteenth century to the present.

Cast in stainless steel, Pine Marten combines casts of the artist’s head and hand with an animal form, creating an uncanny hybrid that unsettles distinctions between human and animal. Its highly polished surface reflects the viewer and surrounding environment, drawing them into the sculpture’s exploration of bodily transformation and unstable identity. The work belongs to Pondick’s series of animal-human hybrids, which she began developing in the late 1990s.

Since its creation, Pine Marten has appeared in numerous exhibitions across the United States and Europe, including presentations at Sonnabend Gallery, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, the Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Bologna, the Groninger Museum, Cranbrook Art Museum, and the Worcester Art Museum.