Biography

Barbara Ségal (b. Bronxville, NY) is an interdisciplinary sculptor and stone carver inspired by the sublime.  She studied at Pratt Institute (Brooklyn, NY), then moved to Paris to continue her education at L’École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (Paris, FR).  After Paris, Ségal relocated to Italy to refine her stone carving skills and gain experience at prestigious marble studios and foundries, including SGF Studio Scultura (Carrara, IT) and Fonderia Tommasi (Pietrasanta, IT). Her multimedia sculptures are informed by the lines, forms, and geometry in Byzantine, Renaissance, and Baroque art and architecture, traditional stone carving techniques, and iconography created with contemporary elements, technologies, and methodologies.

Drawing inspiration from pop and fashion icons, personal experiences, and American iconography, Ségal transforms luxury handbags, clothing, and accessories into exquisite sculptures created from rare marbles, onyx, and precious and semi-precious stones sourced globally.  As one of the few women in a male-dominated field, she actively challenges ingrained gender dynamics in the art world.  Her art serves as a lens to explore femininity, materialism, and the evolving role of artists in a consumer-driven society, addressing themes of identity, loss, resilience, complexities of wealth, and critiques of materialism.

Ségal has taught and lectured at the New York Academy of Art (New York, NY), the School of Visual Arts (New York, NY), and TEDx at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA). Her work is included in prominent public and private collections, such as the Neuberger Museum of Art (Purchase, NY), the White House (Washington, D.C.), Aubrey Drake (Toronto, CA), Robyn Rihanna Fenty (New York, NY), Steve and Alex Cohen (Greenwich, CT), Malcolm Forbes (New York, NY), and Leslie Wexner (Columbus, OH). Her public art commissions include the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) Arts and Design Commission, the West Harlem Public Art Fund, and the Yonkers Sculpture Meadow on the Hudson River, to name a few. Her work has appeared in notable publications, including Sculpture Magazine, The New York Times, Elle, The New York Post, I-D, Vice, and Architectural Digest, among others. She lives and works with her husband, Steve, in Yonkers, New York.