About the artist Lundin Kudo

Lundin Kudo at work
Lundin Kudo in her studio 2005

Lundin Kudo

Lundin Kudo worked as an artist in south Florida from 1972 until her untimely death Easter, April 16, 2006. Her home and studio were in Stuart for many of those years, but she also lived and worked in Hobe Sound and West Palm Beach.

Article about Struggling Woman jewelry business

Nov. 17, 1974
Fort Pierce, Fla., News-Tribune
(Click for larger image)

She was a great talent in several media, including clay sculpture, painting, batik and art jewelry. She designed many flowing, free-form jewelry pieces in the early 1970s, mainly cast in silver using semi-precious stones, using the ancient lost-wax technique. During the same period, Lundin — still using her given name, Mary Lundin — and a partner formed a mail-order company, Struggling Woman, to sell feminist jewelry she created. Always drawn to clay sculpture, Lundin began creating wall sculptures in 1976, including an early one for the zoo in West Palm Beach as well as businesses and private homes in South Florida. Beginning in 1986, she moved from wall sculptures featuring abstract designs and Florida flora and fauna to figurative sculptures — first distinctive, life-size clay wall sculptures, then free-standing sculptures of people. Her figurative sculptures featured a variety of people, but she was especially known for her depictions of middle-age and older women you might see sitting on the beach, carrying groceries out of the supermarket or lounging by their pools in any coastal Florida city. In the 1990s, initially inspired by the pear-shaped human form, she began creating sculptures of actual pears, the apples and other fruits and vegetables. These became very popular and have been featured in many galleries around the United States, along with the large vessels she also created during this period.

Lundin Kudo studied art in the studio of Miguel Ballesta, in Seville, Spain, from 1959-60, and received a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Michigan in 1969. Her work has been featured in numerous galleries in Florida and throughout the United States, and it can be found in private collections across North America, the Caribbean, Europe and Japan.

Lundin Kudo wall sculptures and architectural adornments are featured in private homes and several public buildings, including the baggage claim area of Palm Beach International Airport, St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Stuart and the Swan Hotel at Walt Disney World.

Photo of ring designed and cast by Mary Lundin in 1973
Art jewelry ring, 1973
(Featured in Palm Beach
Post-Times profile)

“Melodie" (1986)

First of many wall sculptures of people by Lundin

Collection of Bruce and Susan Henderson

Featured on cover of
September/October 2002, issue of
Fine Art Ceramics magazine

Fine Art Ceramics

Other U.S. locations

Hallar Gallery
Contemporary Fine Art
4540 Main St.
Kansas City, Mo 64111
Contact Robin Zmuda
(816) 561-5339

Iron County Museum
Caspian, Mich.

LDDK Pottery & Co.
213 E. Main Street
Seagrove, N.C.

Sherwood Gallery
460 S. Coast Highway
Laguna Beach, Calif. 92651
Contact Donna Gourley
(949) 497-2668

Trios Gallery
130 S. Cedros
Solana Beach, Calif. 92075
contact Sheri Fox
(858) 793-6040

Adam Whitney Gallery
8725 Shamrock Rd.
Omaha, NE 68114
(402) 393-1051

Exhibits

Gallery One
Lake Park, Fla.
May 1973
May 1974
October 1974

Iron County Museum
Caspian, Mich.
July 1974

Fort Pierce Art Gallery
Fort Pierce, Fla.
December 1974

Burdines Department Store
West Palm Beach, Fla.
“Artist of the Month”
November 1975

Transcendental Meditation Center
West Palm Beach, Fla.
May 1976

James Hunt Barker Gallery
Palm Beach, Fla.
December 1976

Tequesta Gallery
Tequesta, Fla.
“People”
February 1989

Center for the Arts
Stuart, Fla.
“People”
April 1989

South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship Recipients Show, North Miami, West Palm Beach, Stuart and Hollywood, Fla.
Sept. 1990-June 1991

Dover Art Gallery
Boca Raton, Fla.
Oct.-Nov. 1991

Artsfest Juried Show
Stuart, Fla.
Dec. 1991

Light House Gallery
Tequesta, Fla.
Jan. 1993

Small Figures Show
Armory Art Center
Stuart, Fla.
Feb. 1994

“Sum:Parts”
Center for the Arts
Stuart, Fla.
Jan. 1995

Artfest Juried Show
Stuart, Fla.
March 1996

Hobe Sound Contemporary
Crafts Gallery
Hobe Sound, Fla.
May 1996

Artcetera
Delray Beach, Fla.
Dec. 1996

Southern Expressions II
Florida Craftsmen Exhibition
Stuart, Fla.
Sept.-Oct. 1997

“Pears and Pairs”
Galleria KOI
Stuart, Fla.
Jan.-Feb. 1998

Artists Registry Show
Cultural Courthouse
Stuart, Fla.
Aug.-Sept. 1998

Art League of Marco Island
Marco Island, Fla.
Nov. 1998

Tequesta Gallery
Tequesta, Fla.
Jan. 1999

“Giverney X Nine”
Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens
West Palm Beach, Fla.
Nov. 2-26, 2000

A.E. “Beanie” Backus Gallery & Museum
500 N. Indian River Drive
Fort Pierce, Fla.
2001

“Three Visions” show
with Cheryl Tall and Meg Winter Carell
featuring Lundin Kudo's vessels
Northern Trust Bank
Stuart, Fla.
Jan. 7-31, 2002

Elliott Museum
Stuart, Fla.
2006

Recognitions

South Florida Cultural
Consortium grant
1990

Artsfest, 1st prize
1991

Artsfest, honorable mention
1992

Artist in Residence
State of Florida Arts Council
Art in Education
Dec. 1995-May 1996

Artists Registry Show, 3rd prize
1998

Niche Magazine, 2001 Niche Award for Bosc Pear Series

Commissions

Allen, Sailfish Point
Stuart, Fla.
1986

River One Office Building
Stuart, Fla.
1986

Tequesta Shops
Tequesta, Fla.
1986

Sewalls Point Office Plaza
Sewalls Point, Fla.
1987

Gamble
Jupiter Island, Fla.
1988

Royal Palm Financial Center
Stuart, Fla.
1988

Mary Prince Program Complex
Girl Scouts of America
Lake Worth, Fla.
Palm Beach County grant
Inside clay environmental
sculpture, 11 ft. x 8 ft.
1989

Boca Raton Country Club
Boca Raton, Fla.
1989

Private home
Juno Beach, Fla.
1989

Ebasco Building
Stuart, Fla.
1989

Disney's Swan Hotel
Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
1989

McCourry
New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
1990

Palm Beach International Airport, West Palm Beach, Fla.
“Always in Season”
Installation of 10 people
1990

Iron County Museum
Caspian, Mich.
State of Michigan Art Council grant
1992

Crippled Children's Foundation
Palm Beach, Fla.
Pool area water sculpture
1992

Albany Investments
Nassau, Bahamas
11 large hand-built pots
1993

Dr. Robert Cooper
life-size chef (click here to see)
1994

Mosler
Outdoor beach free-standing
clay sculpture
Jupiter Island, Fla.
1995

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
Stuart, Fla.
4 ft. x 10 ft. bas relief wall sculpture
1998

Henderson
Manatee pool mosaic, and tiles
Ormond Beach, Fla.
2006

• • •

Lundin at work on apple

Lundin Kudo’s work is featured in
“The Ceramic Design Book”
Lark, 1998

Lundin at work in her studio in 2002

1973 Gallery One show invitation with artwork

Invitation for 1973 show, above, and 1974 show, below, include
original pen-and-ink drawings by Lundin

1973 invitation with palm tree drawing

Lundin Kudo's Online Gallery:

Pears • More Pears • Spice & Color • Berries & More • People • Vessels • More vessel s
Wall Sculptures • Apples • Japanese Koi • Other links • Home