Thursday, January 21, 2016

Winter News

Octopus Maiden/Octopussy, 27" tall, oak 2015

Mermaids

Donna Dodson
1/20 – 2/5/2016
Reception Snow Date: 1/31/2016, 1 – 3pm

Siren/Orca, 24" tall, maple, 2015
Siren/Orca (detail)

Mermaids are popular mythical creatures of the sea. These deep ocean phantoms have inspired stories and tales from the frightening to the fantastic in many seafaring cultures. Mermaids were often the subject of figureheads, the iconic carvings that adorned the prows of whaling ships and ocean vessels. This new body of work by Donna Dodson takes a contemporary look at thefabled sea princesses in the traditional medium of wood carving.

Naiad/Narwhal, 38" tall, mulberry 2015
Naiad/Narwhal (detail)
The Octopus, Orca and Narwhal provoke our imagination and make us wonder what divides the world we know from the deep mysteries of the sea. Dodson uses these iconic ocean creatures as the genesis of her whimsical human-animal female figures. She researches sea life and imagines how to anthropomorphize many different types of species in her new mermaid series. Each sculpture comes to life with a unique personality and body type.

Squid Girl, 32" tall, cherry, 2015
Stories of mermaids are often about two worlds colliding. Sailors are drowned and rescued by mermaids but have to sacrifice their life on land and vice versa. Dodson’s figures evoke contemporary dialogues rather than classical ones. Octopussy is the hypersexualized name of a veiled woman in a burqa. Naiad the Narwhal is a sea creature wearing scuba gear for splashing around in a swimming pool and looking awkward in her prepubescent skin. Siren is a warrior at heart, and wears a royal samurai robe, suitable only to an orca. She possesses a sinister mind, deep intelligence and top predator arrogance.

Madame Elephant Seal, 34" tall, maple 2016
Click here for the facebook event page. Update: Don Wilkinson posted a fabulous review of my first solo museum show, for South Coast Today. Brian Goslow, Managing editor of Artscope Magazine published an in depth interview with me about my work for this show and my recent trip to China. Big Red and Shiny also covered this show.

Save the Date: The Chinese Zodiac Series by Donna Dodson will be on view at the St. Botolph Club in Boston from February 24th-March 25th. My work is showing concurrently with the paintings of Raphael Jaimes-Branger. These two solo exhibitions are curated by Cathryn Griffith and Michael Allen. 

Opening reception Wed Feb 24th 5:30p-7p

Update: Holly Camero featured Andy Moerlein and I on Wicked local. We are the talk of the town. Denishe also featured us on her blog, The Maynard Grapevine. Art New England interviewed Andy Moerlein and I about our recent trip to China on behalf of the Boston Sculptors Gallery.

1 comment:

Ken Roskos said...

Still fantastic work. I would think the galleries in the pacific northwest would be interested in your work.
Cheers!
Ken R.