Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis: Journeys through Transformation of Form

“Approaching the different and manifold sequences in this book…one will gradually come to realize that metamorphosis can become an ideal for knowledge, a guiding path for self-knowledge and knowledge of the world―as intuitive contemplation and as artistic creation.” ―Dr. Peter Wolf

What is metamorphosis? Through the medium of art, sculptor Gertraud Goodwin invites us to enter the realm of time and continuously changing movement in this highly original book. With chapters by various artists and writers, interwoven with her key insights, Goodwin offers numerous points of entry to understanding the mystery of metamorphosis. Profusely illustrated in color, we are shown many sequences of images―sculptures, reliefs, and graphic works―that, with the aid of informed commentary, we are invited to “read.” These images belong together, developing from one to the next―just as single experiences and events in life belong to our biographies. One motif, one movement, passes through all stages, from simple beginnings and more differentiated formations to a culmination―and, from there, back to a more mature simplicity and concentration that makes a new beginning possible.

“In relation to the transcendent, where ordinary words fail, the language of form, texture, and relations in space, like those of music in time, offer alternatives to words, perhaps less encumbered by preconceptions. These pages offer many examples of the beauties and mysteries of metamorphosis, which is itself an essential component of Nature’s creative language.” ―Dr. Philip Kilner

About the Author

Gertraud Goodwin was born in Germany in 1951. In her first career, she worked as an surgery nurse at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh. Her sculpture training at the Alanus-Kunsthochschule near Bonn (1976–1979) was followed by training in sculpture therapy. In 1982, she moved to England, where she taught at the Tobias School of Art in East Grinstead and at Emerson College, Forest Row, as well as working with graphics. In 1987 she started to teach sculpture and graphics in her own studio. Gertraud Goodwin has exhibited in galleries in London, Brighton, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland.