Lady Bird

The Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition Presents the 30th Annual Outdoor Sculpture Show, 'Perpetual Energy.'

At East River State Park, in Williamsburg, the following artists will have work on view July 2nd through September 15, 2012: Ranjit Bhatnagar, Eimont Bronzini, Miggy Buck, Ursula Clark, Donna Dodson, Janet Goldner, Nicolae Golici, Esther Grillo, Howard Kalish, Bernard Klevickas, Coral Lambert, Barbara Lubliner & Sung Jin Oh, Andy Moerlein, Eric Stein, Tyrome Tripoli, Bill Wood.

Opening Reception Saturday July 14th, 1p-5p. Located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on Kent Ave and East River between North 7th St. and North 9th St. Bedford Ave stop on the 'L' train. Music by local musicians.

Lady Bird, 8 ft tall, styrofoam & cement, 2012 by Donna Dodson. I will be exhibiting Lady Bird, a monumental outdoor sculpture that is based on the maquette of Seagull Cinderella, a small wood sculpture that I created ten years ago.

Seagull Cinderella, 15" tall, wood paint by Donna Dodson Photo Credit: Cliff Pfeiffer Seagull Cinderella is as common as the birds we see at the beach. Yet she is uncommon, like Marilla in Anne of Green Gables, corseted and bound by the sweet virtues of her character.

I posted an image of the Lady Bird on my facebook page, and one commenter wrote that it looked like a dybbuk, which I head never heard of. So I looked it up in Wikipedia, and found out 'In Jewish folklore, a dybbuk (Yiddish: דיבוק, from Hebrew attachment) is a malicious or malevolent possessing spirit believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. Dybbuks are said to have escaped from Sheol or to have been turned away for serious transgressions, such as suicide, for which the soul is denied entry. The word "dybbuk" is derived from the Hebrew דיבוק, meaning "attachment"; the dybbuk attaches itself to the body of a living person and inhabits the flesh. According to belief, a soul that has been unable to fulfill its function during its lifetime is given another opportunity to do so in dybbuk form. It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished its goal, sometimes after being helped.' So if a woman had died without the chance to be set free, like a bird, or without having met Prince Charming, like Cinderella, her spirit would attach itself to a living person and possess their spirit in order to live out the dream of happily ever after.

Update: John Haber reviewed this show on his blog, 'haberarts.com: art reviews from around new york' with a favorable mention of my piece, 'A few works make a statement, like Donna Dodson’s decidedly buxom Seagull Cinderella...'