Her torso is magnificent: a thick, sturdy terrain of welded bronze whose feminine curves belie her formidable weight of four hundred pounds. Her form protrudes from the smooth yellow wall of the Nathan D. Rosen Museum, a tribute to the depths of Linda Stein's emotional framework and artistic acclaim. She is the Knight of Tomorrow, one in a series of sculptures from Stein's current exhibition at the Levis JCC's Nathan D. Rosen Museum Gallery. I met with gallery director Helene Yentis, who gave me a fascinating tour of "The Power to Protect" exhibition.

On September 11 2001, Linda Stein evacuated her New York studio in the TriBeCa area, and ran north to the blare of crumbling twin towers and prevailing chaos. Her life was forever changed, and so was her art. "I did not return to my studio or my apartment for 8 months, and I stopped working for a year," she commented from her New York Studio.

As a well-established artist whose previous works included ceremonial scepters from the 1980's, and machete blades from the 1990's, Stein's post-911 art took a turn toward the female figure as heavily armored by any combination of metal, wood, bronze, leather, fiber, and ceramic. "My need for protection really came to the fore after running from burning buildings. "Stein soon realized that all of her work spanning since the early 1980's were symbols of protection. Her female knights are certainly no exception. These sculptures remain massive, bold and enigmatic. Their surfaces hop scotch between alternating areas of steely strength and vulnerability, layers encrusted with calligraphy plates, keys and coins.

An evolution of these knights lines the Nathan D. Rosen gallery walls. Earlier sculptures dating from 2002 are distinctly female, with bunched leather and metallic zippers a la pop idol Madonna. More recent pieces have evolved in complexity and blurred in sexual orientation, some of them seemingly androgynous. Since her trip to Japan, Stein's work has evolved into skeletal structures of wood, small excavation sites, each a visceral testament to Princess Mononoke, Wonder Woman, and Kannon. Both the earlier stone, leather and metal structures, and later wooden ones are visibly empowering for females, if not wholly revolutionary. "So much of history is verbally defined using masculine terms," says Stein. "What I'm doing is gender bending. I'm creating female knights that represent both men and women.

"Ultimately, Stein's feminist ideals are perhaps the only ostensible connection between the injustice that was 911 and the movie "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." While she is now well known for her stand down with Sacha Baron Cohen's latest misogynistic personality, Stein's reaction to 911 and ensuing creation of female knights against the tumult and uncertainty of today's world is even more so extraordinary, "My women warriors are not a symbol just for power, but power for good! "

Linda Stein's Power to Protect exhibition will continue in the Nathan D. Rosen Museum until February 18th. Sponsors for the exhibition include The Boca Raton News, and Comerica.

The 411...
What: Nathan D. Rosen Museum Gallery
Where: 9801DonnaKleinBoulevard,Boca Raton
When: Through February 18
Contact: 561-852-3254