Behold, the latest work by mixed-media artist Rose B. Simpson, is a colossal outdoor sculpture commissioned by SFMOMA for its Floor 4 terrace. Simpson, who resides in Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, is one of our moment’s most important sculptors, working with clay and mixed materials in a matrilineal tradition that bridges past, present and future. At over 24 feet tall, the honey-colored bronze Behold will be visible from various locations in and around the museum, including Yerba Buena Gardens across the street.

The mother and child figures depicted in the sculpture are connected by beaded necklaces strung from their shoulders and a bending, ornamental ladder that arcs between their heads, illuminating a mental and emotional connection that flows between them. In the artist’s words, “Like branches of a tree, a child grows from the hip of a monumental parent.” The figures’ steady outward gazes also connect the sculpture, visitors and the museum itself to its surroundings.

Behold is a profoundly hopeful and vulnerable artwork. As Simpson says, “It asks us to be human with each other, to change our narrative through wonder, witness and a foundation in the soft warmth of our humanity.”