Karen LaMonte (New York, 1967) graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1990 and lives and works in Prague, Czech Republic. Although she uses a wide range of media in her work, from ceramic, bronze and iron, to alabaster, paper and marble, it is her sublime glass sculptures depicting the human form that have become internationally renowned. In Nocturne 1, LaMonte draws reference to the dynamic Hellenistic period of Greek sculpture, noting the clinging fabric that was indicative of marble figures of the time; however, the actual solid form beneath the clothes has been removed. Presenting the form of the nude female without the physical body is still seen as seductive, emphasizing the emptiness of such desire, and how detached it is from the individual woman. Her works have been exhibited widely including at the Musée de Verre, Sars-Poteries, France; The Venice Biennale 2017 and 2019; the Kampa Museum in Prague; the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, and the Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, WI, among many others.