Alida (Ada) Renan started sculpting in the 80s in Vancouver, Canada where she lived for several years. She took Art classes at The University of British Columbia (UBC) and sculpted in soap-stone, in an atelier. Throughout the years she continued her theoretical professional growth while knowing that one day she will return back to her “first love”. Since 2001, Alida returned to sculpting with much passion and energy. She attended professional classes and sculpted in a few ateliers as well as in her own.

In her impressive bronze sculptures one can sense the theme of bondage and freedom, ties and individualism. A central motif – the rope, in its varied manifestations, carries with it different meanings. While some of her work is figurative and other abstract, all are powerful and sensual, and convey a constant sense of movement which can not leave one indifferent.

Alida’s bronze sculptures are part of several private collections in New York, London, Moscow, Singapore, the Dominican Republic and Tel-Aviv. Her work is currently on display at the “Chrysalis” Gallery in Southampton, New York, at the “Art Facet” gallery in Singapore and at her own gallery “Alida bronze sculptures” in Tel Aviv.

Read below the words of Art Advisor & Curator A. Gishes about Alida Bronze Sculptures: 

Bronze Harmony

Alida (Ada) Renan’s bronze sculptures glide smoothly between Figurative Realism and Abstract Cubism. The central motif in Alida’s work is the human figure, and especially the female figure. It can appear alone or as part of a group. But even if it stands alone, it never is. The figure interacts with its environment as well as with the viewer, inviting him to enter its inner world.

Group sculptures are characterized by harmonious attachments. The figures are interrelated by bonds of love and/ or partnership, and present a perfect collaboration with each other, the space around them and with the viewer.
Indeed Alida deals a lot with the collaboration of her figures with the space around them, and the gaps between their different parts. This “game” of positive-negative invites the viewer to use his own imagination and “play along”.

The virtuoso use of rope in Alida’s sculptures reflects the complex duality between bondage and freedom. With the use of the rope in different aspects, the artist reflects the complexity of life, and shows that the same elements that bind us also set us free and vice versa. This duality runs symbolically through many of Alida’s sculptures.

Well aware of the solid nature of bronze, Alida found the way of giving life and softness to her bronze sculptures. She recruits the motif of movement to her aid. Her sculptures are designed with flowing and continuous lines. Even her most Cubist sculptures are characterized by soft angles and curvy lines. These lines give sensuality to many of her female figures. But that is not all – Alida’s smooth, well finished surfaces add to the sense of softness and sensuality as well. Warmth is provided by the hues of patinas, carefully chosen for each sculpture. Sometimes various patina colors are combined to suit different parts of a sculpture.

Clearly evident in her bronze sculptures is Alida’s love of Naïve Art. A noticeable influence is that of the Colombian artist Fernando Botero. This influence is mostly noticed in the depiction of female figures. These are often characterized with gracious roundness, and chubbiness that raises a smile upon the viewer’s face.
Alida manages to keep balance between all the dualities in her work, and all live together in harmony: the abstract and the realistic, the individual and the group, freedom and bondage, immobility and movement, naivety and sensuality.