Space for the Spirit

Space for the Spirit (Espacio para el espíritu, 1995) is carved from a single piece of pink granite, obtained using traditional stone-harvesting methods from an Indian quarry. Chillida began to work with this granite in the late 1980s, creating works such as How Profound Is the Air IV (Lo profundo es el aire IV, 1987), shown at the 1988 Venice Biennale. These granite pieces have an opening through their uppermost section, a square that allows light to flood the interior. Chillida knew that stone, with its impenetrable nature, would always resist being transformed; rather than a geometry inscribed in stone, therefore, he sought out the intrinsic geometry of the material itself. For Chillida, the force and power of stone resided in its capacity to modulate and congregate space. In working with granite, he hoped that the rock itself, like a mountain, would offer an experience of architecture.