This is a sculpture of the head of Penelope made from woven steel straps. This is appropriate because of the story of Odysseus. He was away from his wife Penelope for ten years fighting the Trojan War. To keep at bay other men who thought Odysseus was dead, she pretended to weave a burial shroud and said she would not remarry until she finished. But every night she unraveled her shroud and started the next day weaving it anew.

Located in the center of a wide plaza the sculpture drew tourist to it who wanted to gaze out through Penelope's eyes.

Words written on the base read:

Weaving by day, Penelope would be forced to choose a new husband when her tapestry was complete, but all that while she waited, unraveled her work by night, steadfastly sure of Ulysses' return.

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Penelope 2009   •  Artist: Michael Stutz   •  Material: Welded steel straps   •  San Diego Harbor, San Diego, California   •  (Photo posted Saturday 24 September 2011)   •  (Photo taken 17:26:13 Saturday 16 October 2010)   •  © 2011 Bryan Costales #BCY_1261
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Viewed from the front this face looked more like a mask because of its empty eyes. One might hope it would inspire replica masks to be made in the future, human sized, to be worn.

In this closeup of the eye, you can see how the weave was constructed so as to bring out the eye.

Here is a tight closeup of the face just below the nose. What cannot be easily seen from the outside are the spot welds used on the inside.

The artist's signature was inside the sculpture. This inside view provides a glimpse of the many spot welds used on the interior to keep the outside free of welds.