Serene Jade

Serene Jade is a black bronze sculpture of a nude woman created by the sculptor Dora Gordine in 1949. It is 21 cm tall, 30 cm deep, and 35 cm in length, about as long as two spread hands. The touch adaptation of this work is a plastic scale replica that is about a third the size of the original, created by scanning the original sculpture and reproducing it via 3D printing. While it is lighter and slightly rougher in texture than the original, it provides a good sense of the subject's posture.

Serene Jade is a sculpture of a nude woman exuding calm and serenity. She sits half upright on her left side, her left foot tucked behind her, and her right leg crossed in front, leaning with her head propped up on her left elbow. Facing her directly, her legs are to the left, while her head, turned gently downwards, is to the right. Her left temple rests against her left hand, supported by the vertical buttress of her left arm. While only her nose and lips have been sculpted, there is a sense of peace in her relaxed brow and soft smile. Her hair is braided and gathered into a modest updo at the base of her skull. The line of her neck slopes upwards towards her right shoulder, leading us to her right arm, which crosses her chest towards us, her right hand grasping her left shoulder so she can tilt her head down and rest her jaw against the back of the hand. Her torso extends diagonally down towards the left, where her left hip meets a flat, triangular bronze base with a texture like stone, its longest edge facing us, extending from her grounded right foot to her supporting left elbow. It is a stylized, studied moment of calm, the pose painful on the weight-bearing elbow after longer periods of time.

Nevertheless, Elizabeth Choy, the Singaporean war heroine who modelled for the artist, found the process therapeutic. After suffering at the hands of the Japanese during World War II, her body was covered in scars, and sitting for Gordine was helpful in restoring her self-esteem. The sculpture draws one's attention to the beauty and serenity of the female form, omitting details such as veins, wrinkles, or nipples, in favour of emphasizing the sense of bone, muscle, and flesh in the body. Even the face is only articulated by her nose and lips, which harbour the gentle curve of a smile.

If you were to touch this sculpture, you would find the cold, hard surface of the black bronze, but also an all-over texture like that of paper that has been crumpled and then pressed flat, with none of the creases fully ironed out. This texture softens the visual impact of the hard metal, adding to the sense of gentleness that pervades the work.