Figures of Absence

Figures of Absence, created in 2021 by artist Goshka Macuga, is a sculptural composition of five vertical elements made of rubber, steel, polyurethane and wax. Each element contains the negative imprint of a female profile. These stylised, matte profiles are arranged in a rhythmic sequence. Their vertical arrangement and reference to totems or columns evoke classical commemorative monuments, yet the work simultaneously undermines this genre. Whereas traditional monuments celebrate a single figure, Macuga presents a collective: five women, not as statues but as silhouettes of absence. 

The work was created as part of Publiek Figuur (Public Figure), an annual commission focused on representation in public space. In this sculpture, Macuga pays tribute to five exceptional women who played an important role in Belgian culture and history: Chantal Akerman (filmmaker and visual artist), Andrée Blouin (pan-African activist), Patricia De Martelaere (philosopher and author), Marie Popelin (lawyer and feminist), and Mathilde Schroyens (first female mayor of Antwerp). By depicting their faces not in positive but in negative form, Macuga emphasises how they – and many others – remain absent from collective memory and public space. You can read more about these women here. 

Figures of Absence breaks with the tradition of the “hero on a pedestal.” The pedestal remains, but the heroines appear as absences, as traces. The work asks not only who is commemorated, but also who has been structurally forgotten. In this way, it is both a commemorative and a questioning visual intervention.  

Goshka Macuga (b. 1967) is a Polish artist who has lived and worked in London since 1989. She is known for her research-based and associative practice, in which she weaves together archives, art history and politics. Her installations and sculptures interrogate the role of art in the public domain and invite reflection on representation and collective memory. Her work has been shown internationally in institutions such as Tate Britain, MoMA New York and Documenta 13.