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Alison Saar is a sculptor and a mixed-media and installation artist. Her artwork is influenced by African, Caribbean, and Latin American folk art and spirituality. She is the daughter of assemblage artist Beyte Saar, who was involved in the Black Arts movement of the 1960s and 1970s. This movement worked to deconstruct racism by embracing Black culture and pride. Like her mother, Saar uses various media to explore her Black female identity. Her work also focuses on the African diaspora.

Saar grew up in a California canyon, where nature was part of her everyday life. She considers natural materials essential to her work. She explored more structural, urban forms while she was working in New York City. She says that her recent work is a balance between natural and structural elements. This balance is evident in Tippy Toes, with its twiglike form and rough-hewn wooden figure and cast bronze base.

Muchas de las esculturas de Saar exploran las cualidades contrastadas de la vulnerabilidad, la fuerza y la feminidad. La figura femenina de Tippy Toes está suspendida en el aire por lo que parece un delicado crinolina. Sin embargo, la estructura, aparentemente frágil, está hecha de bronce resistente. La estructura eleva a la figura, pero también la confina. Las espinas de la estructura sugieren el doloroso y difícil levantamiento de la figura. La figura se eleva hasta una altura de casi metro y medio. Esto hace que parezca que se relaciona con el espectador como un igual.

La estructura en forma de jaula de Tippy Toes se basa en un dispositivo de tortura conocido como la "doncella de hierro". La doncella de hierro es un ataúd con pinchos metálicos en su interior.

tags: entorno, identidad, poder, percepción