Images of humans as the motif with a focus on the human head already occupied Hede Bühl during her studies with Joseph Beuys in Düsseldorf in the 1960s. Fascinated by their archaic elliptical forms and traces of the sensory organs, Hede Bühl abstracted the theme of “being human” predominantly in bronze, plaster, stone and brick. Her works are an echo of the modern art history and extend far back into antiquity. At the same time, Hede Bühl’s works are impressively contemporary in their search for a definition of what it means to be human. She herself says of her works:“On the one hand there is the constricting element, the straps and clamps, and on the other hand the material bulges out, revealing a force working from within the figure itself. I see this as a play of forces between expansion and setting boundaries. In this respect,the bands that surround many sculptures also have an organizing effect. It is precisely at this point that a lifelong conflict takes place: between will and refusal, between the unrestrained urge to be active and externally imposed rules.”