In 1986, the well-known Norwegian sculptor Knut Steen carved a new relief in larvikite for the Norwegian Embassy in Washington D.C. The relief, which was formerly located at the Embassy Row entrance and has now been moved into the garden, has a maritime theme. The semi-abstract relief shows a billowing sea juxtaposed with shapes that can be read as a human eye, a nose and a mouth, but which can also be interpreted as an island, the snout of a whale sticking up from the water, or a flame at sea (perhaps from an oil platform?). These playful associations are reflected in the title of the work – Metamorfose / Metamorphosis, a title that Steen had also used for a similar relief some years earlier – Havets metamorfose / The Ocean’s Metamorphosis.
Metamorfose / Metamorphosis by Knut Steen, larvikite relief, 59 x 246 x 14 inches (150 x 625 x 35 cm) 1986.
