Dora Ramirez

Using his skills as a physician accomplished at MRI and 3D imaging, master sculptor Santiago Medina combines technological sophistication with artistic expression to create timeless abstract sculptures. 

Born in 1964 in Medellin, Colombia, Medina had a passion for art at an early age and studied at the DR Bellas Artes Institute in Colombia from 1972 to 1981. From 1983 to 1987, he furthered his art education at the Spanish Academy of Art while also pursuing his medical training at CES University in Medellin. After graduating with his doctor of medicine, Medina attended Harvard Medical School in Boston and the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis from 1990 to 1997, specializing in medical imaging, radiology and anatomy. The following year, he continued his artistic studies at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

As a sculptor, Medina uses 3D imaging technology to mold and shape Italian stainless steel into beautiful still-life sculptures, each bestowed with fluidity and elegance. To enhance his visually interesting works, he adds tints of color using aerospace paint, as seen in such abstract and contemporary pieces as Flame, Cupid and Perseverance.

Medina’s works have garnered critical acclaim. Along with notable English artist Henry Moore, Medina is one of the few sculptors to have a permanent monumental sculpture at Harvard University. Additionally, his works are featured in public art venues at Stanford University, Tufts University, CES Contemporary Art Museum, Florida International University and the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami. 

Medina’s avant-garde sculptures have been shown at major exhibitions and art fairs worldwide, including the New York Art Fair, Art Basel Miami Beach, Houston Art Fair, Art Market San Francisco, Hamptons Art Fair and the International Art Fair of Bogotá.

On 1stDibs, discover a range of Santiago Medina’s sculptures, prints and more art.

Beginning in the early 20th century, abstract art became a leading style of modernism. Rather than portray the world in a way that represented reality, as had been the dominating style of Western art in the previous centuries, abstract paintings, prints and sculptures are marked by a shift to geometric forms, gestural shapes and experimentation with color to express ideas, subject matter and scenes.

Although abstract art flourished in the early 1900s, propelled by movements like Fauvism and Cubism, it was rooted in the 19th century. In the 1840s, J.M.W. Turner emphasized light and motion for atmospheric paintings in which concrete details were blurred, and Paul Cézanne challenged traditional expectations of perspective in the 1890s.

Some of the earliest abstract artists — Wassily Kandinsky and Hilma af Klint — expanded on these breakthroughs while using vivid colors and forms to channel spiritual concepts. Painter Piet Mondrian, a Dutch pioneer of the art movement, explored geometric abstraction partly owing to his belief in Theosophy, which is grounded in a search for higher spiritual truths and embraces philosophers of the Renaissance period and medieval mystics. Black Square, a daringly simple 1913 work by Russian artist Kazimir Malevich, was a watershed statement on creating art that was free “from the dead weight of the real world,” as he later wrote.

Surrealism in the 1920s, led by artists such as Salvador Dalí, Meret Oppenheim and others, saw painters creating abstract pieces in order to connect to the subconscious. When Abstract Expressionism emerged in New York during the mid-20th century, it similarly centered on the process of creation, in which Helen Frankenthaler’s expressive “soak-stain” technique, Jackson Pollock’s drips of paint, and Mark Rothko’s planes of color were a radical new type of abstraction.

Conceptual art, Pop art, Hard-Edge painting and many other movements offered fresh approaches to abstraction that continued into the 21st century, with major contemporary artists now exploring it, including Anish Kapoor, Mark Bradford, El Anatsui and Julie Mehretu.

Find original abstract paintings, sculptures, prints and other art on 1stDibs.

If you’re thinking about decorating your space with abstract sculpture, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.

You don’t have to look for a piece that demands attention. Find a work of abstract sculpture that speaks to you. As is the case with any abstract art, whether it’s sculpture, an abstract painting or a grouping of prints, you can select a work for your living room or dining room, for example, that will either casually fade into the background or serve as a focal point. When you’re thinking about how to arrange your furniture and decor, consider color, texture and what kind of energy you’d like a specific room or corner to evoke. Abstract sculpture can go a long way in elevating a home, and its history is interesting if you’re shopping for a new piece today.

As a pioneer in naturalistic forms and figures that vividly express emotion, Auguste Rodin is often called the father of modern sculpture. His work in the 19th and early 20th century broke with artistic conventions and inspired modernism, leading to a new period of avant-garde abstraction.

Among the first artists to push abstract sculpture into the mainstream were Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. They helped define the movement of Cubism, which focused on deconstructing the world abstractly.

Later in the 20th century, the artistic movements of Italian Futurism, Dadaism, Neo-Dadaism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and minimalism all contributed to the advancement of new and more abstract sculpture designs. Italian Futurism, for example, celebrated movement, dynamics and technology in abstract sculpture. These movements passed down ideas that continue to inform abstract sculpture today.

Browse a range of modern abstract sculptures, postmodern abstract sculptures and other kinds of sculpture on 1stDibs.