Equus

Suspended Motion: “Equus,” an Ode to Mastered Freedom

Some sculptures seem to balance on a breath, as if the entire world paused to allow an idea to crystallize in matter. Equus, Artigas Planas’s remarkable creation, belongs to this rare category where grace encounters tension, where poetry merges with technical mastery. Before us, a bronze horse and its female rider stand poised atop a wide iron ring — their gesture so fluid it appears to reside in a world untouched by time.

The horse, washed in a gentle green patina, advances with a sovereign softness that evokes ancient frescoes and childhood imaginings. Its slender legs barely graze the arc of metal, as though the animal floated above the material world. This is not a creature of battle or force, but a companion — calm, loyal, and imbued with a quiet inner power that has been transfigured into harmony.

The rider — unmistakably feminine in her fluid posture — leans forward with grace, one arm extended, one leg lifted behind her in a gesture both acrobatic and contemplative. Artigas Planas does not sculpt her as a conqueror but as a dancer, a seeker of equilibrium, a woman in profound dialogue with her mount. Her movement, suspended in the air, communicates the delicate balance of a moment in which everything could falter yet remains perfectly aligned. She does not dominate the horse; she listens to it, moves with it, completes it. Their relationship becomes a choreography of trust.

The iron ring serves as stage, cosmos, and metaphor. It evokes the great cycles of life, the paths of planets, the turning of fate. It also embodies control and precision: to remain balanced atop a perfect circle is to accept the fragile line between falling and flying. By positioning his figures within this geometry, Artigas Planas creates a work both timeless and resolutely contemporary.

The deep, matte iron contrasts with the shimmering bronze, amplifying the sense of lightness in the figures above. This interplay of materials becomes a dialogue between gravity and elevation, between the world that grounds us and the aspirations that lift us. Through Equus, the artist reminds us that true freedom emerges not from chaos but from tension, discipline, and connection.

As a free-standing sculpture, Equus brings an ethereal and contemplative presence into any interior. It captures the gaze without demanding it, offering a moment of quiet reflection. It becomes a center of calm within a room — a place where the mind pauses, where balance becomes visible.

To acquire Equus is to welcome into one's home a fragment of sculpted poetry — a metaphor of companionship, movement, trust, and the delicate beauty that arises when a woman and a horse advance together in perfect synchronicity. It is to embrace an artwork that speaks of mastered freedom, harmony, and the intimate dance between strength and lightness.