With her small format nudes, Russian-born sculptress Tamara Quint has moved into borderline taboo areas of art.

It is true that the nude female body has been one of the most frequent themes found in sculpture since the ancient Greeks. However, the artistic view has seldom been so lustfully directed at lust itself, the depiction of the nude so concentrated on erotic attraction. Reminiscent of prehistoric or primitive fetish figures, the sexual features gain maximum presence, curves arch themselves to-wards the eye, lascivious poses offer an uninhibited view of the pudenda - without shame. In order to concentrate the statement of form on the sex appeal inherent in the female body, the artist ac-cepts an almost deforming alienation of the anatomy. Eroticism emancipates itself from the classi-cal ideal of beauty. In particular, this aspect can be seen in the faces which, robbed of their individ-uality, sometimes even up to the point of appearing mask-like, seem to express an unbridled ea-gerness for adventure.

However, Tamara Quint's artistic principles of sculpting are by no means directed at a blatant dis-play of sexual parts. Rather, each anatomic detail is integrated into the overall composition of the figure in question. Frequently the female body is inscribed with an elegant arabesque-like flowing line. This contouring, reminiscent of Jugendstil sculptures or of paintings by Henri Matisse or Amadeo Modigliani is often complemented by interior linear forms resulting from the ornamental abstract folds or the ductus of the seams of the garments covering the body. The roughened sur-faces heighten the presence of flesh in the adjoining, smoothly polished skin surfaces.

Due in particular to her sophisticated surface structuring, Tamara Quint's figurines do not only invite the beholder to look, but also to touch. The different methods of modelling seem to demand haptic contact. The recipient can then retrace with his or her own hands what the artist's hands created. Beholding thus becomes grasping. This plastic structural work process also remains visible in the casts. Smoothly polished parts, reduced to basic geometrical shapes, are found next to uneven surfaces with rough contours.

The aesthetics of Tamara Quint's works does not result purely from the observation of natural beauty, but from their artistic design. Despite the close orientation to the female body (her own?), Tamara Quint considers herself to be a creator rather than an imitator of creation. The rhythm of the lines, the range of the surface structures, point here to the synaesthetic approach to art of this sculptress who is also a professional pianist.

Sensuality can thus be perceived with various senses.

The main theme of Tamara Quint's works is female sexuality. The bodies of the women depicted are in various stages of lust - abandoning themselves to their own or to extrinsic fantasies, display-ing themselves lasciviously, exploring themselves, whereby the artist makes use of her own expe-riences and observations. It is thus left to the imagination of the beholder as to what extent Tamara Quint's art speaks of personal experience.

Tamara Quint's female nudes embrace the principle of abandonment to pleasure. This artistic he-donism draws particular fascination from the fact that it is a woman who focuses her gaze on the lustfulness of her own sex.. Would one forgive a male artist for thus reducing the woman to her sexuality?