Kiki Smith

Girl with Squirrel consists of both a drawing and a sculpture, two modes that are frequently intertwined in Smith’s artwork. The influence of

folk arts and crafts is often apparent in the

simplicity and directness of her style and treat­ment of subject matter. Here, the representation of a young girl with a squirrel, rendered in both

two and three dimensions, reveals Smith’s fascina­tion with the historical genre of portraiture (female portraiture in particular) and the primal connection between humans and nature. The child and animal figures seem to share a modesty of

scale, paleness of color, and physical fragililty

that convey vulnerability and innocence.