A room of one's own

An Inner Space, a Territory of Light: “ A Room of One’s Own ”

Some sculptures do not depict a moment, but an idea — a breath of thought made tangible, as though philosophy itself had taken form. A Room of One’s Own, Artigas Planas’ creation inspired by Virginia Woolf’s landmark essay, belongs to that rare lineage of artworks that refuse to merely represent; they assert, they claim, they carve out a space in which the mind can finally breathe.

Before us, a bronze woman leans against a metallic structure, her face resting on her hand, absorbed in a reflection whose content we will never know — only its quiet intensity. Her elongated body stretches forward, leaning, almost lifting itself toward the surface that supports her, as if the very act of thinking required a precise posture — a soft tension, a suspension. In this figure, Artigas Planas translates the fragile elegance of chosen solitude: not an escape, but a concentration, a fertile retreat where ideas begin to weave themselves.

Behind her, a half-disc of gold leaf settles into the outline of a full circle, like a rising sun whose light divides into two worlds: the raw and the intimate, the outer and the inner. This golden halo is far from decorative; it is a powerful symbol. It evokes that mental territory defended by Woolf — a luminous, autonomous, preserved place where feminine thought can unfold freely. The delicate fissures of the gold leaf become a vibrant, solar skin against which the darker silhouette of bronze takes its meaning.

Patinated iron, shaped into open geometric lines, forms a minimalist architecture: it is the room, the frame, the base, the grounding structure. But it is also a window. An opening. An invitation. These metallic frames trace the boundaries of an interior landscape — one that can shift from the real to the imagined, one that may be set upon a surface or suspended on a wall like a contemporary icon devoted to thought.

Indeed, the sculpture’s dual installation possibilities deepen its symbolic resonance. Hung on a wall, it becomes a mental tableau, a threshold toward a contemplative space. Placed on a piece of furniture, it becomes a quiet presence, a companion, a daily reminder of the necessity of creating a space for oneself — to dream, to write, to think, to be.

To acquire A Room of One’s Own is to welcome more than a contemporary sculpture into one’s home: it is to integrate a foundational idea, an ode to inner freedom and creative independence. It is to embrace the notion that art is not always decorative — sometimes, it is profoundly essential.