Breeze
If entering from the south parking lot, Ursula Brodauf Craig's sculpture, "Breeze," welcomes as it also beckons you to notice the prevailing winds from the nearby canyons.
The simple lines of Brodauf Craig's sculpture echo the very basic beauty of the work. Brodauf Craig's sculptures rely on basic elements of line, texture and color  to hold the viewer. Her work evokes a mood, contemplation, and a stirring of the soul. She is a master sculptor who understands the nature of her medium, its strengths, weaknesses and possibilities. She creates but does not control, thereby allowing her figures to emerge into their own.
Brodauf Craig's sculpture involves the implied element of motion and simple actions like lifting and holding. The materials she chooses allow her to explore color through patinas—the chemical coloring of metals and texture. Apparent throughout her work is a sense of balance and duality; a yin yang of opposites. The opposing forces, in complement, are united into a wholeness that hints of perfection and sensibility.
This work has two large stainless steel forms mounted on top of two granite pedestals. The wave-like shape of the stainless steel forms gives a sense of motion to the viewer. The placement on top of the pedestals puts the work above the viewer, giving an increased sense of scale. The two rectangle columns gives the forms separation, strength and stability. These columns provide a contrast to the free flowing motion of the horizontal shapes above.
Ursula Brodauf Craig was born in Gmenhainichen, Germany, a small town renowned for its woodcarvers near the Czechoslovak border. She apprenticed under master woodcarver Emil Helbig, yet retained a strong desire to be a sculptor. Not until after World War II could she experience artistic freedom and follow her creative impulses. Brodauf Craig works in her studio in Emigration Canyon in Salt Lake City. She has a Master's degree in sculpture from the Master School of Art, Division of Academy of Art, Berlin, Germany.
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