Lupa

Part of a series of works on the deconstruction of motherhood and its representation in art, Lupa, 1998, is a cast bronze she-wolf suckling the twins, Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome, set on two Ionic columns. Visitors come upon the installation of Lupa as if upon an ancient ruin. The work was cast at the Casting Institute at the State University of New York at Buffalo during Pels' fellowship there in 1997 and completed the next year. The work symbolizes the relationship between mothers and their offspring and reflects Pels' interest in the relationships between animals and humans.