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She walked in front of me in the Wagenstraat', says sculptor Ingrid Rollema in Het Binnenhof of 29 May 1982. A lady shopping, wearing large earrings made of vulgar plastic, which nevertheless gave her a royal allure. I immediately knew that I wanted to make her into a sculpture. Everything about this woman of over 90 kilos had something regal about it. In the revolving door of the Bijenkorf, I asked her if she would be a model. She was such a beautiful, proud woman'. Despite her relatively modest height, this is truly a 'World Female'.
Adriana, for that is the name of the lady who modelled for the 'World Female', fulfilled Rollema's request. The sculptor first exhibited the sculpture in 1980 at the Westeinde gallery. Later, the Municipality of The Hague purchased the sculpture under the Visual Arts Scheme. For a long time this lady stood next to the HEMA on Voldersgracht, then briefly at the Zuiderpark and since 2014 she has been at the Rabbijn Maarsenplein.
For Rollema, ordinary people are the main subject of her sculpture. She finds her models on the street, like Adriana did. Usually the people she talks to respond. Then they come to her studio. There she puts them on a chair that can turn around completely. She looks at them from all sides before starting the real work. That is also the time for (in-depth) conversations. In this way Rollema tries to get to the core of a person, in order to make conscientious portraits and honest sculptures.