Untitled (Blouse)
- Artist: Heidi Bucher
- Date: c.1976
- Medium: Textile, latex and mother of pearl pigment
- Dimensions: object: 780 × 1080 × 55 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
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About this artwork
This is the “Untitled (Blouse)” by Heidi Bucher, created around 1976. The piece is a thin cast relief that looks like a blouse folded in half and flattened. It shows a V‑neck and short sleeves, rendered in fabric and latex. The surface is glazed with a pale pink mother‑of‑pearl pigment that gives it a gentle iridescence. Bucher made the work in Switzerland after returning there in 1973 following a stint in the United States.
The artist had been fascinated by the body and how it occupies space. In the early 1970s she produced wearable sculptures, then moved on to “skinnings” – thin, skin‑like casts of interiors created with latex. Casting garments, such as this blouse, links those architectural skins with the idea of clothing as a protective shell for the body. The work feels both domestic and sculptural, a quiet reminder of the everyday structures that shelter us.
See it in person
Untitled (Blouse) is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
