Three Sisters

Deborah Masters, 1991

Adjacent to the Rose Garden behind Trinity Hall, Deborah Masters’ monumental sculpture Three Sisters is a formidable presence. Comprised of three women standing nine and a half feet tall cast in concrete, the figures are based on Antoine Chekov’s play, The Three Sisters. Masters’ women capture the personality traits of the play’s three main characters: strength, weakness and ambiguity. The artist said of the sculptures, “The women’s faces look lost in thought, sad, portraying a feeling of weakness. But from behind, their figures have very broad backs depicting hard work and resilience. The side, however, illustrates the query about life. When a passer-by looks at the side, they will not get any direction as to what to expect from the front or back. It will be a surprise to see the emotion captured in clay.”

Proposed and fabricated while Masters was a visiting artist at Chico State in 1990-91, the sculptures have become a landmark for the Chico State campus.

For more information about the artist, visit her website at www.deborahmasters.com.