Late in life, informed by the Japanese crafts of kirigami and origami (Japanese cut and folded paper) and industrial manufacture, Isamu Noguchi produced a series of twenty-six galvanised steel sculpture editions by cutting, folding and assembling sheet metal. As the artist stated: ‘The folding creates structural strength. It also introduces three-dimensionality to appear solid – or may be so without looking so, as I often prefer. A shadow.’ The sculptures in the series represent a virtual retrospective of the artist’s wide-ranging interests – landscapes, bodies, abstract spatial concepts, and natural forces – offering a bridge between the natural and the manmade.

Noguchi worked on theatre design early on in his career and had created sets and costumes for dancers including Martha Graham. Fat Dancer is a body in motion simplified to an ample mass, a fixed pivoting leg and a pointed toe.