Sunday, May 4, 2014

Silent Scream: Personality Type and Body Language

May 21-June 22, 2014

Boston Sculptors Gallery
486 Harrison Ave Boston MA 02118

Opening Reception: Sat May 31st, 2p-5p
First Friday Reception: June 6th, 5p-8p

Gallery Hours: Wed-Sun 12p-6p
www.bostonsculptors.com

Those who see any difference between soul and body have neither –Oscar Wilde

Boston, Mass. In the history of the world, up to the present time, the animal community has known only two types of hippopotamus, the common hippo and the pygmy hippo. In May 2014, a new species of hippo will appear in the city at the Boston Sculptors Gallery.  The Mighty Hippo stands at nearly the same height as the common hippo, but her five foot frame is vertical, not horizontal. The significance of her stance has yet to be determined by science.

In Donna Dodson’s third solo show at the Boston Sculptors Gallery, she brings together her signature vocabulary of animal headed goddess figures with her favorite material- wood. Dodson has created a new series called Silent Scream. This body of work references the Egyptian Goddess Tauret: a hippo/lion/crocodile composite figure.  Tauret earned her reputation as an apotropaic deity from people noticing how fiercely protective hippos are of their young.  

Prominent artists, such as Stephan Balkenhol and Walton Ford, who use animal headed imagery, eventually shed the animal, and continue on to make a commentary about the human figure in their work. In that case, the animal image was a mask. In Dodson’s work, she sees the animal head as a representation of an abstract idea, for example what is it like be powerful (like an elephant) or free (like a bird) or fierce (like a tiger). The fact that these abstract ideas are married to a human body, reveals Dodson’s vision of how it looks to feel beautiful, and wild, or free.

Donna Dodson’s animal headed goddess figures expand the visual language and narrative scope of traditional mythological depictions of deities, meditating on the intersection of personality type and body language that define the human/animal world.  Although human faces rarely appear in her sculptures, their presence is always implied in her human/animal figures.

The Mighty Hippo, 50" tall, wood & paint, 2014 by Donna Dodson

Update: Cate McQuaid reviewed my show 'Silent Scream' in the Boston Globe, on June 10, 2014. Suzi Grossman also reviewed my show on her blog, bostonhassle.com on June 10, 2014.