Capella

Artist / Maker Susan Chrysler White ((American, b. 1954))

Date2023

MediumPlexiglas, steel, acrylic paint.

Dimensions180 x 66 in.

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineCommissioned by University Museums with Funds from the Joyce Tomlinson Brewer Fund for Art Acquisition, and Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department. In the Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberU2023.10

Status

On view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: usan Chrysler White, known for her colorful paintings and sculptures, is featured artistically in several areas of Iowa State’s campus. Her commissioned work Coalesce graces the exterior walls of the Hub, highlighting the communication that happens in public, natural spaces. Notable in the University Museums’ collection are her painted plexiglass three dimensional sculptures, Zoopsia and Capella, which are located in Morrill and Elings Hall. Her installation Our House is a Very, Very, Very Fine House is found in the Friley Hall dining area. Layering bright color and hectic pattern is a consistent theme in the artist’s work, and the transparency of the hanging chandelier-like plexiglass sculptures allows light to become an integral element of her art as well. Constructed by inserting dozens of painted flat sections of plexiglass into a central disc, these sculptures activate the stairways in the large buildings in which they are installed. Feathery shapes and teardrop patterns overlap to form the larger chandelier structure. In her art, the artist explores natural and anatomical symbols, as well as the layering of images with color. Lacey textile patterns overlay with patterns found in nature, all of which are layered in the act of painting and collage. Chrysler White is a retired professor of drawing and painting at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, and has works of art in collections across the nation.

Locations