Richard Serra was born in 1938 in San Francisco, California. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a BA in English Literature in 1961, working at different steel mills to support himself during college. The artist later went on to receive a BFA in 1962 and an MFA in 1964, both from Yale University. In his work, Serra investigated the relationship between space, material, and movement. Through large-scale sculptures and site-specific installations, the artist manipulated mediums such as lead and steel to construct immersive geometric artworks that emphasize materiality and the relationship between the viewer and the spaces in which his works are installed.