"In the public piece commissioned in 2006 entitled Ella Racing the Wind, we see the artist in command of a hybrid style that does very well within the niche it stands. Made of granite, it seems both abstract and figurative, with the latter category being referred to in the sculpture’s title, which refers to the artist’s mother. On the front and back of the work, the stone has been polished, while the sharply angled edges of the parallogram shaped piece have been left rough. An elliptical hole has been cut through the piece with water running over its edge into the small pool into which the sculpture has been placed. One of Chester’s most striking pieces, Ella Racing the Wind shows the artist at her best, in charge of a form that is at once nonobjective and figurative."

Jonathan Goodman is a critic and writer based in New York City. He has written articles and reviews for ARTnews, Art in America, and Sculpture. Currently, he is teaching at Pratt Institute and the Parsons School of Design.  August 2008