Muro Series X, commissioned by and created at Storm King, is one in a series of Mia Westerlund Roosen’s monumental wall-like pieces from the 1970s. The striking works were made by pouring concrete (and sometimes asphalt) to form thin horizontal slabs that when stood up become monolithic vertical surfaces. Trowel marks preserved in the concrete provide variation, and Storm King’s example incorporates an oxidized steel plate at the center that enhances the rough, weathered look.

Westerlund Roosen often employs simple geometric shapes. Working against trends toward strict geometry in the art of the 1970s, however, she imbued her works with an irregular sensuality and suggestive biomorphic power. “[Minimalists] weren’t interested in giving life to an object; I am,” she noted. “They did not want to show the artist’s hand…. I felt perfectly free to take one of their hard-edged steel plates and fuzz up all the edges in my own feminine way to see what would happen.”