Recognition and Rewards

That appears to be the case, judging by the recognition Pinsker's work has received in recent years. Among the honors she's earned are Sculpture Awards in the Knickerbocker Artist 24th Annual Exhibition and the Metropolitan Life Art Show; solo exhibitions at Vorpal Gallery in Soho, New York City, and the Left Bank Gallery in Laguna Beach, California; and appearances in group exhibitions throughout the United States and Europe.

In 1981, David Mann, then owner of the Bodley Gallery on Madison Avenue where Pinsker held her one-woman show, wrote, "Pinsker's sensitivity to line within the sculptured form is powerful, strong and poetic."

Several years ago, Pinsker was approached by members of the "Anne Frank in the World Committee," a group dedicated to preserving the history of the Holocaust. The members had seen a model of one of Pinsker's commissioned sculptures, entitled "Mother and Child," and wanted to know if they could acquire the piece as their "Humanitarian Awards."

Pinsker agreed. She was thrilled to learn that Hollywood Director Steven Spielberg was to be the recipient for his production of the movie "Schindler's List. Pinsker subsequently was requested by the Anne Frank Committee to make two more of the Humanitarian Award for the co-producers of "Schindler's List."

A special award of the “Mother and Child” sculpture was laterpresented by Pinsker to then First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in appreciation for her book, "It Takes A Village."

Pinsker’s “Beginnings”
in Portuguese pink marble.

"I was always surprised that people responded so well to my work," she says, noting that her sculpture is now displayed in 21 museums. "I've always had self-doubt."

Sculpting a Path

Self-doubt certainly doesn't appear to have deterred Pinsker from going after what she wants, however.

As a young woman looking for a way to finance her college education, she talked her way into part-time jobs at Macy's and Ohrbach's in New York. Later, she flipped through the 'Yellow Pages' and found a position as a model in a garment center showroom.

"It was wonderful because I made some money, but it really wasn't me. I was basically a very searching kind of person," she says. "I realized I didn't want to be a hunk of flesh walking around in clothes."

Realizing that "the only way a woman can get ahead in the fashion business was to be a buyer in a department store," Pinsker then signed on as an assistant buyer at Arkwright Inc., where she quickly worked her way up to being a buyer.

Pinsker continued to work even after she got married and had children. At one point, she scoured the Yellow Pages for a fashion editing job, getting all the way to Women's Wear Daily under "W" before winning an interview. The job paid less than the cost of Pinsker's housekeeper, but she took it anyway.

Along the way, Pinsker suffered a bout with a serious illness, which made her reconsider her somewhat atheistic views. "That's when the search for meaning began." As she began exploring her spiritual side, she found it easier to create.

That's not to say sculpting was ever easy. However, of all her careers, Pinsker ranks sculpting as her most challenging. She asks, "How do you come up with something to say that nobody else has said before? For me, concept is the most challenging thing of all. It's like giving birth."