Linda Hoffman’s bronze sculpture, One Heart, is on display as part of the 2026 Montfort Sculpture Exhibition at The Shrine of Lourdes in Litchfield, Connecticut through November 30.
For museum hours and more information about the exhibit, click here.
One Heart, Linda Hoffman
“For this inaugural Montfort Sculpture Exhibit: Contemplation and Reflection, at the Shrine of Lourdes River Walk, I chose One Heart, a bronze sculpture, with a surface that feels almost like the bark of a tree. The heart is covered with beings — people of different shapes and sizes and ages — with room for many more. The sculpture poses the questions: Who are all these people?Who are we? What is our place on this earth?
In seeing the sculpture, I hope it will lead to wonder. How can so many beings fit on this heart? For this heart can hold everyone — no one is excluded.
What is a heart? In one of the earliest renderings of the heart in Western art, in 1305, the Italian painter Giotto made a depiction of Charity offering her heart to God. She also holds a basket of fruit perhaps symbolizing the fruitfulness that this love offers.
To make One Heart I used brown sculptor’s wax to shape the heart, softening the hard wax with the heat of a light bulb. Then I made the individual figures and wax-welded them to the heart. When I took the piece to the foundry, I was told the figures needed to be cast separately. I took the wax sculpture home, removed the figures in groups of four to six, labeling them and creating a map of where they would be attached after casting. I reworked the surface of the heart and returned to the foundry. The groups of figures were cast separately and then welded onto the cast heart. Then the sculpture received its patina — a brown finish with highlights buffed out using a soft brush.
One day, my granddaughter was in the studio, while the sculpture stood on a base next to the stairs to my writing loft. Lui climbed a few steps, then leaned toward the sculpture until she was at its level. With her small, delicate pointer finger, she gently touched each figure, even finding the smallest children. She recognized the individuality of each one.”