Carole A. Feuerman

Carole Feuerman is renowned for her hyperrealistic sculptures, which she commenced creating in the 1970s. Feuerman's prolific career has spanned a period of four decades, with works produced across a variety of media, including bronze, resin and marble. The first of a series of monumental painted resin and bronze sculptures of swimmers and bathers was entitled "Survival of Serena". The work was first exhibited at the 2007 Venice Biennale. The sculpture was awarded first prize at the Beijing Biennale in the subsequent year.
The sculpture, which derives its name from Venice's former appellation, La Serenissima, portrays a female swimmer, positioned upon an inner tube, with water droplets manifesting on its surface. Since then, the work has achieved global exposure and addresses themes of survival, migration, resilience, and the human bond with water.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Carole Feuerman and her family resided in a house in Key West, Florida. She would observe Cuban asylum seekers arriving on the shore in a state of flux, having traversed the sea on improvised floating vessels fashioned from inner tubes and driftwood. The artist was profoundly impacted, motivating her to create the inaugural piece, entitled "Innertube Variant II." This work also depicted the torso and arms of a woman, with her head resting upon an inner tube. Since the 1980s, the piece has undergone numerous iterations, eventually leading to its current appellation, Survival of Serena. Feuerman has observed that this is a universal sculpture. She draws attention to the fact that migration has been a part of the experience of most families.

Her works are represented in the collections of approximately thirty museums worldwide. In addition to her oeuvre of public artworks, the artist has exhibited her work in Germany, Korea, Singapore, USA and several Italian cities. Most recently, a series of five monumental sculptures of swimmers, including Serena, was displayed in the harbours of New York City.