Monumental Sculpture Destined for Reno, Nevada
March 28, 2024
Here at the studio, 2024 begins with the exciting announcement of a new sculpture commission by Melissa Morgan Fine Art: a monumental public artwork destined for Reno, Nevada. Carved from a 40-ton block of white Carrara marble quarried from the Apuan Alps, Belladonna will rise from a serene pool of water, towering at more than sixteen feet tall.
Belladonna in progress at our Carrara, Italy studio, 2024, Carrara marble, 200 x 63 x 36 inches
Italian for “beautiful woman,” Belladonna embodies the dynamic energies of contrast and union. Anchored to the earth at a single origin point, the form reaches skyward and diverges, only to connect, split, and join once again. Evoking both an hourglass and the symbol of infinity, the stately sculpture will infuse its environment with a grand sense of time, giving locals and visitors a place to pause and remember to feel wonder.
Belladonna is a fitting work for Reno, itself a collision of contrasts where the majestic Sierra Nevadas gently give way to expansive desert, just north of the pristine waters of Lake Tahoe. Cheekily nicknamed “the biggest little city in the world,” Reno is an environment of dualities: wilderness and city, leisure and commerce, high and low. Belladonna will be right at home here, an embodiment of balanced growth integrating art and environment.
Belladonna Bianca (model for the monumental version), Carrara marble, 42 x 12 x 7 inches