Match of the Matriarchs and other Amazonomachies by Donna Dodson is the first solo exhibition by a female artist hosted by the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Match of the Matriarchs centers on women’s stories, women’s lives, and women's place in the history of chess. It includes the world's first and only monumental, life-sized chess set, which contains 32-large scale wooden sculptures representing all-female representations of cephalopods battling cetaceans.
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- Home
- Amazons Among Us
- Match of the Matriarchs
- Western Zodiac
- Eastern Zodiac
- Birds of a Feather
- Elephant Parade
- Animal Menagerie
- Monumental Sculptures
- Small bronzes and 3d prints
- Knight&Hammer Jewelry
- Resume
- Sold Pieces
- Collector's Corner
- Found Object Assemblage I
- Found Object Assemblage II
- Found Object Assemblage III
Monday, April 22, 2024
Match of the Matriarchs and other Amazonomachies
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Sheroes
Donna Dodson: Sheroes August 30 – October 1, 2023 @Boston Sculptors Gallery
Featuring special guests Trina Baker, K. Melchor Hall, Maya Rubio and Kledia Spiro
First Friday: Sept 1st, 5 – 8:30pm. Special performance, In the Heels Of by Kledia Spiro at 6pm
Artist’s Reception: Saturday, September 9, 3 –
5pm, with artist talks at 4pm
Roundtable Discussion Heroine
Herstories and Contemporary Visions: Sun, Sept 10 at 2pm
With Donna Dodson, Maya Rubio and Kledia Spiro. Co-moderated by Dr. Clareese Hill and Dr. Ali Terndrup. Join us for this virtual event on Zoom
As 2023 ushered in a new set of woes
for women including threats to health care, human rights and gender equality, artist
Dodson’s response was to create an army of Sheroes for her seventh solo
show at Boston Sculptors Gallery. Her most recent woodcarvings are inspired by
real life heroines – Hua Mulan, Tomyris, Beatrice Cenci and Caterina Sforza.
Dodson chose to collaborate with special
guests Trina Baker, K. Melchor Hall, Maya Rubio and Kledia Spiro because of
their shared commitment to social justice. Dodson, Baker, Hall, Rubio and Spiro
are united in their quest to create a new vision of women’s empowerment. Hall
responds to Dodson’s sculptures and themes of superheroines and vulnerability
with her prose poetry transformed into a digital soundtrack to accompany Maya
Rubio’s video, which highlights the process of creating collaborative
animations with Trina Baker. While Hall’s poems address the gendered contrasts
of strength and weakness, youthfulness and aging, as well as the protection of the
self and others in relationships, Baker’s animations present contemporary
visions of superheroines that challenge the stereotypical narratives of female
action figures.
In Spiro’s most recent body of work,
she considers the inheritance and upholding of her family’s legacy—one with
significant achievements—as a weighty responsibility. Being a woman adds
another layer of complexity, considering the historical challenges of
prescribed gender roles. Yet, the support and contributions of unseen heroines,
like Spiro’s mother and grandmother, play a crucial role in making such
legacies possible. Her family's legacy in Albania, rooted in the remarkable
work of her grandfather and father, became her foundation. Supported by the
efforts of her mother and grandmother, who defied societal norms, Spiro is
empowered to leave her own mark, creating a new reality, and continuing their
journey. In her performance Oozing, she stands on the shoulders of these
unseen heroes and heroines, carrying forward their aspirations and breaking barriers.
Their labor and sacrifices enable her to build her own legacy, step by step.
She embraces the weight, leaving traces of progress as she goes, constantly
evolving and opening up new possibilities for the future.
Trina
Baker currently Chairs the Animation Department at Lesley Art + Design.
Her paintings, drawings, and artist books have shown nationally and
internationally in galleries and corporate collections. Baker’s animations have
received numerous awards including a Pixie, honoring outstanding work in Motion
Graphics, Visual Effects and Animation, as well as two International CINDY
(Cinema in Industry) awards.
Donna
Dodson is a Resident Scholar at Brandeis University’s Women’s Studies
Research Center, a Fulbright US Scholar, a Fellow at the St. Botolph Club and a
member of the Boston Sculptors Gallery. She has exhibited her work, received
favorable reviews and won grants locally, nationally and internationally. Dodson’s
work is in numerous private and public collections locally, nationally and
internationally. Her well-known Seagull Cinderella sculpture attracts
international media attention.
K.
Melchor Quick Hall, PhD. is a Black feminist
scholar-activist crossing disciplinary and national borders. She is a Resident
Scholar at Brandeis University. Dr. Hall is the author of Naming a
Transnational Black Feminist Framework: Writing in Darkness, and
co-editor of Mapping Gendered Ecologies: Engaging with and beyond
Ecowomanism and Ecofeminism.
Maya Rubio is an independent curator and
editor at Boston Art Review. Her recent curatorial projects include What’s
the Secret? at Gallery 263 and M'Kenzy Cannon: Please Let Me In at
Boston Center for the Arts. Rubio has also worked on several exhibitions at
Emerson College, where she studied the business of creative enterprises and art
history.
Kledia
Spiro creates videos, performances, installations, and paintings. Born
in Albania, Kledia was a member of an Olympic weightlifting team. An
Sheroes Descriptions:
Beatrice Cenci for Harriet Hosmer, 31” tall, black walnut, 2023. Photo credit: Brian Wilson
Harriet Hosmer (1830-1908) was a renowned stone sculptor, ahead of her time. She grew up in Watertown, Mass. but lived in Rome most of her life. She often shied away from popular subjects in favor of more challenging ones. One of her major pieces is called Beatrice Cenci, for the Italian nobleman who, with her siblings and one of his wives, killed her abusive father, was tortured, and eventually beheaded. Beatrice Cenci has become a symbol to the people of Rome of resistance against the arrogant aristocracy. It is rumored that every year on the night before the anniversary of her death, she comes back to the St. Angelo Bridge where she was executed, carrying her severed head.
Blood Thirsty, 42” tall, cherry, enamel, 2023. Photo credit: Brian Wilson
Tomyris was the legendary Turkish Queen who killed Cyrus the Great. The story goes that she refused his hand in marriage, and he took revenge on her by ambushing and killing her husband and son. She went to war against him and out maneuvered him on the battlefield. She ordered her soldiers to bring her his severed head, which she dunked in a cask of blood, saying "Now you can have your fill of blood" since he was so bloodthirsty. My sculpture is a python headed woman, with a tattoo that says "No" in Persian. She wears the severed head of her enemy as a trophy around her neck like a piece of jewelry. Tomyris is a popular subject in art history. But there are not many contemporary visions of her.
Every Mother is a Warrior, 56” tall, black oak, enamel 2021. Photo credit: Brian Wilson
This
commissioned piece has not been exhibited before, but the owners want it to be
seen. My friend lost his mother recently. He told me that her
favorite bird was the red winged blackbird. He cut down this tree to build
a new addition on his family’s home where this sculpture now resides.
I took one look at the log and saw two figures- a large maternal figure and a small
girl child. I added painted wing patterns in the signature colors of the red
winged blackbird- red, yellow and black. He has since shared with me that his
mother was a warrior who battled mental health issues all her life. His kids
call the sculpture "Grandma."
Tomboy, 42” tall, honey locust, oil stain, enamel, 2023. Photo Credit: Brian Wilson
Hua
Mulan was the Chinese warrior who is said to have dutifully taken her father's
place in the army to preserve her family's honor. There is a famous quote
where she says, “The male and the female rabbit have physical differences but
when they are running side by side, you cannot tell them apart.” So I created
a rabbit headed female figure who is standing in shoes obviously too large for
her, covering her breasts, and she has a tattoo meant to symbolize being a tom boy.
The Madwoman of Chess or Autonomous Was a Woman, 37” tall, honey locust 2023. Photo credit: Brian Wilson
Caterina Sforza was an Italian noblewoman who lived life on her own terms. When one of her enemies surrounded her castle and threatened to kill her children she called their bluff by lifting her skirts, baring her genitals and saying "Go ahead, I have the means to make more!" She earned the nickname The Tigress of Forli. My sculpture is a full bodied figure with her mouth open, symbolizing a woman who is comfortable in her own skin, not subject to the male gaze.
Update: Cate McQuaid reviewd my show and Barbara Broughel's show "Requiem Portraits" at Krakow Witkin Gallery on Sept 24, 2023, Witchy women: Witch hunts, Sheroes, and the blessings of age.
James Foritano reviewed my show and Alison Croney Moses's show "The Habits Of Reframing" at Abigail Ogilvy Gallery on Sept 28, 2023 for Artscope Magazine, TWO GALLERIES, TWO TELLINGS, ONE HISTORY: THE WOODEN MARVELS OF DONNA DODSON AND ALISON CRONEY MOSES
Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Seagull Cinderella Controversy 2.0
Jessica Bregoli invited me to exhibit my sculpture, Seagull Cinderella, for the 10th Anniversary Seaport Art Walk in New Bedford. Readers might remember the controversy she caused in 2016. But I remember the outpouring of support and love of her fans. So I returned her to her perch on Rte 18 at the entrance to the Port of New Bedford.
Photo Credit: Tim Gastall/ We Love the Seagull Cinderella Facebook pageSeagull Cinderella is the answer to the question, what type of bird would Cinderella be? I chose the seagull, since it is one of the most common birds we see at the beach, and New Bedford is a seacoast city. For this special occasion, I made the bold move to add a daisy bikini, which was my original vision for this sculpture, and a green skirt with white daisies. It seems that the old petition is recirculating again, and the media just cannot get enough of this story. To date, the new improved Seagull Cinderella has generated over 40 TV, radio, podcast, newspaper, and e-magazine citations:
Hyperallergic, Dec 29, 2023, The 20 Most Powerless People in the Art World: 2023 Edition, #13 "Voluptuous Public Sculptures — This year, the global urge to censor the female form also extended to sculptural representations."
Fun 107 FM, Aug 28, 2023, by Maddie Levine, New Bedford Artist Stays True to His Word & Gets Busty Seagull Tattoo
Boston Globe, Aug 16, 2023 by Emma Glassman-Hughes In
New Bedford, the ‘sexy seagull’ is ruffling feathers once again
Hyperallergic, Aug 14, 2023, by Rhea Nayyar, The
“Sexy” Seagull Sculpture That Scandalized a Coastal City
The Herald News, August 12, 2023, By Don Wilkinson, Art
Beat: Celebrating 10 years of New Bedford's Seaport Art Walk
98.3 FM/WCCQ Radio (Illinois) July 28, 2023 by Maura Myles,
FRISKY
FRIDAY FAIL OR FLY-HIGH: Is a Seagull Statue with Boobs Too Sexy?
98.5 FM Radio, The Sports Hub (Boston) July 27, 2023, ‘Seagull
Cinderella’, the controversial busty bird sculpture, is making a return to New
Bedford
Fun 107 FM, July 26, 2023, by Maddie Levine, New Bedford Man Said He'll Get 'Busty' Tattoo Under One
Condition
Gorge
Country Media, (The Dalles, Oregon) July 24, 2023 by ‘Bird with boobs’ statue causes a stir in Massachusetts
New Bedford Guide, July 21, 2023 by Steven Richard, Is New
Bedford’s “Seagull Cinderella” Really as controversial as news networks
proclaim?
K24 TV Digital, (Kenya) July 20, 2023, Seagull
statue with female figure stirs debate
92 FM, (Maine) July 20, 2023 by Matt James Some Massachusetts Residents Angered by What They Say Is a
Sexually Suggestive Seagull With Boobs
93.3 FM, (Ohio) July 20, 2023 by Andy Woods, This
statue inappropriate or not...what do you think?
98.3 FM (Missouri) July 20, 2023 by Joe Lose, Seagull
Statue Seems Too “Sexy” For Some
98.5 FM, (Maine) July 20, 2023 by Matt James, Some
Massachusetts Residents Angered by What They Say is a Sexually Suggestive
Seagull with Boobs
Bol News (Pakistan) July 19, 2023, Controversial
Seagull Statue with Female Figure Stirs Debate (Urdu
and English)
Country 102.5 FM (Boston, MA) July 19, 2023 by Jackson
Blue, Bikini-Clad
Seagull Statue Ruffles Feathers in Massachusetts Community
Mental Floss, July 19, 2023 by Jake Rossen, A
Busty Seagull Statue Is Ruffling Feathers in Massachusetts
WWLP
TV News (Springfield MA) July 19, 2023 by Nick DeGray, Is this sculpture in a Massachusetts town too risqué?
WLOS (ABC 13 news) Asheville NC July 18, 2023, 'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again
KRCG 13 (CBS tv) Missouri, July 18, 2023, 'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again
KVII TV (ABC tv) Texas, July 18, 2023, 'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again
KMPH TV (Fox news) Fresno California, July 18, 2023 'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again
KBAK (CBS TV) Bakersfield California July 18, 2023 'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again
KTVO News Missouri/Iowa July 18, 2023, 'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again
WSET News, (ABC 13) Virginia, July 18, 2023, 'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again
KTUL News Tulsa Oklahoma, July 18, 2023, 'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again
WPBN Michigan, July 18, 2023, 'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again
KHQA News, Quincy Illinois, July 18, 2023, 'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again
KSNV Las Vegas Nevada, (NBC) July 18, 2023, 'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again
Arcamax.com (Virginia), July 18, 2023, WATCH: Seagull
statue with a female figure courts controversy in Massachusetts
KATV (ABC) News in Little Rock Arkansas, July 18, 2023, 'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again
KEYE
TV (CBS) Austin, Texas, July 18, 2023 by 'Bird with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy
once again
KUTV (CBS) News from Salt Lake City Utah, July 18, 2023, by
'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again
The Messenger News, July 18, 2023 by Elizabeth Urban, Massachusetts
Town in Uproar Over ‘Birds With Boobs’ Female Empowerment Statue
The National Desk.com, July 18, 2023, 'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again
UPI (United Press International), July 18, 2023 by Ben
Hooper, Seagull
statue with a female figure courts controversy in Massachusetts
WFLA TV (NBC) News
for Tampa
Bay, St. Petersburg and central Florida, July 18, 2023 by Rachel Tucker,
Shapely
seagull statue stirs up controversy in Massachusetts town
WJLA TV (ABC) News from
Washington DC, July 18, 2023, 'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again
WNY
News Now (New York) July 18, 2023, Seagull Statue Contention
WPDE
TV (ABC) South Carolina News station, July 18, 2023, 'Bird with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy
once again
WRAL TV (NBC) Raleigh NC, July 18, 2023 by Jelia Hepner, New
Bedford residents say seagull sculpture is 'too sexy'
WRGB TV (CBS) News serving the capital district, Albany-Schenectady-Troy NY, July
18, 2023 'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again
Yahoo! Finance (UPI), July 18, 2023 by Ben Hooper, Watch:
Seagull
statue with a female figure courts controversy in Massachusetts
Yahoo! News (UPI), July 18, 2023 by Ben Hooper, Watch: Seagull
statue with a female figure courts controversy in Massachusetts
Canvas Rebel, July 17, 2023, Meet Donna Dodson: Reflections
on Being Misunderstood
The Citizen, (New York), July 17, 2023, MA:
SEXY SEAGULL STATUE RETURNS
The Daily Journal (Missouri) July 17, 2023, MA:
SEXY SEAGULL STATUE RETURNS
KOMO TV (ABC) Seattle News
Weather Sports Breaking News, July 17, 2023, 'Bird
with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates controversy once again’
The Times and Democrat (South Carolina) July 17, 2023, MA:
SEXY SEAGULL STATUE RETURNS
WFMZ TV News serving
the Lehigh Valley,
Berks County, and Philadelphia regions, July 17, 2023, MA:
SEXY SEAGULL STATUE RETURNS
WJAR TV (NBC) Providence News Weather Sports Breaking News,
July 17, 2023 by Jodi Reed, 'Bird with boobs' statue in Massachusetts creates
controversy once again
1420 WBSM: Ned Bedford’s News Talk Station, July 16, 2023
by Jim Phillips, Public Art on Display at New Bedford Seaport Art Walk
Fun 107 FM, The Southcoast’s #1 Hit Music Station, July 13,
2023, by Nancy Hall, 'Booby Seagull' Makes Triumphant Return to New Bedford
Waterfront
New Bedford Guide, July 13, 2023 by Steven Richard, New
Bedford’s seaport displays new art to celebrate Art Walk’s 10th anniversary
South Coast Today/The Standard Times, June 28, 2023 by Seth
Chitwood, 'Seagull
Cinderella' is returning to New Bedford. Do you remember the controversy?
You can catch a glimpse of Seagull Cinderella on her perch in New Bedford through Thanksgiving. After that, she will be returning to her hometown of Maynard Mass in a chariot in time to join the annual Holiday Parade as a special guest with her own float on Sunday December 3rd, 2023.
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
Amazons, Goddesses, and Wonder Women: A Fulbright Journey
Amazons, Goddesses, and Wonder Women: A Fulbright Journey
On View November 1 - November 23, 2022 Kniznick Gallery
Brandeis University Women's Studies Research Center, 415 South St, Waltham MA
Since 2020, Donna Dodson has collaborated with several artists and scholars to translate her wood sculpture series “Amazons Among Us” into a variety of mediums, including poetry and animation. Dodson’s sculptures are inspired by legendary warrior women such as the ancient Amazons of the steppes, the Dahomey of West Africa, and the Rani of Jhansi.
As Dodson’s heroines transform through porous materials of wood, word, and pixels, this interdisciplinary collaboration honors the endurance of ancient storytelling and extends it towards a posthuman future. Earthy, sensuous wooden icons encounter digital avatars of infinitude. A score of poetry written by K. Melchor Hall grounds the environment. Amazons, Goddesses, and Wonder Women examines how historical and futurist feminist mythologies can evoke ancestral connection, a sense of resiliency, and belonging. Audiences are invited to consider their own presence amongst these figures and how they can help craft legacies of social transformation and restorative justice.
This exhibition features wood sculptures by Brandeis University WSRC Resident Scholar Donna Dodson, poems by Brandeis University WSRC Resident Scholar K. Melchor Hall, collaborative animations with Trina Baker, Lesley University Chair of Animation and Eric Keller, professional animator and CG artist, with concept art, storyboards and 3D models by Lesley University interns Lexy Saunders, Paola Almonte Colon, and Sarah Clifford and research/image banks by Brandeis University Student Scholar Partners Pilar Duvivier and Cyrenity Augustin. Alongside this artwork, the exhibition will feature feminist animations from Dodson‘s international colleagues, Anna Dudko (Ukraine), Camila Kater (Brazil), and Renee Zhan (UK) whom she met during her Fulbright US Scholar Artist Residency at Q21/MQ in Vienna, Austria, with her host, Tricky Women/Tricky Realities, the world’s first and only animation festival for women artists.
Amazons, Goddesses, and Wonder Women: A Fulbright Journey is curated by Maya Rubio.
Opening Reception and Fulbright Panel Discussion: November 1, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the WSRC | Fulbright Award-winning scholars Donna Dodson, K. Melchor Hall, Djounia Saint-Fleurant, Hoang Duong Thien, and Aishah Winter share their experiences and insight into the Fulbright process. Please RSVP to attend this in person event.
On Feminist Animation: A Panel Discussion Moderated by Donna Dodson. A virtual panel of feminist animators including Trina Baker, Christine Banna, Sarah E. Jenkins, Atia Newman and Shanti Thakur, November 8, 2022, from 12 to 1:30 p.m. Please Register to receive the zoom link for this virtual event.
On Collaboration: A Panel Discussion Moderated by Maya Rubio with Trina Baker, Donna Dodson, K. Melchor Hall, Cyrenity Augustin, Pilar Duvivier, and Paola Almonte Colon. Exhibiting artists speak with the exhibition curator about the process of working in large teams on collaborative projects. November 15, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the WSRC. Please RSVP to attend this in person event.
Thank you to the Brandeis University Women's Studies Research Center Kniznick Gallery, Puffin Foundation, Fulbright Austria, Fulbright US Scholar Fellowship, Tricky Women/Tricky Realities and Lesley University for their support of this project.
Monday, April 25, 2022
Fulbright US Scholar
Donna Dodson, an artist from
Maynard, Massachusetts, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award in
the Visual Arts for the 2021-2022 academic year from the U.S. Department of
State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Dodson is one of over
800 U.S. citizens who will conduct research or teach abroad for the 2020-2021
academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. With the support of Fulbright Austria, Donna will work as an
artist in residence at Q21/Museums Quartier with her host institution Tricky Women/Tricky Realities, the world's first and
only digital animation festival for women. She will complete the project
"Amazons, Goddesses and Wonder Women," by translating her wood
sculptures into digital avatars and writing the script in collaboration with
Trina Baker, an award-winning animator and Maynard artist. Both Dodson and
Baker have been awarded grants from several Massachusetts Cultural Councils for
this project. In particular, The Maynard Cultural Council is proud to have
contributed seed money to launch this international project.
“Donna's
sculptures are elegantly crafted in wood at her art studio in Maynard. She met
Baker at Artspace Maynard which plays a critical role as a connecting
place and arts hub for the community where projects such as this one
happen. Using cutting edge technology, this world class collaborative
project between Dodson and Baker embodies the highest ideals of the Maynard
community, and we are proud of her and grateful to the Fulbright Commission for
her selection as a U.S. Scholar," Maynard Cultural Council chair Sara
Lundberg said.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. Designed to forge lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries, counter misunderstandings, and help people and nations work together toward common goals. Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has enabled more than 390,000 diverse, dedicated and accomplished students, scholars, artists, teachers, and professionals to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and solve shared international concerns. The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations worldwide also provide direct and indirect support to the Program, which operates in more than 160 countries worldwide.
In the United States, the Institute of International Education supports implementing the Fulbright U.S. Student Program on behalf of the U.S. Department of State, including conducting an annual competition for the scholarships. For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit http://eca.state.gov/fulbright.
Update: Tessa Venell, Office of the Vice Provost for Research, published an in depth article on my forthcoming Fulbright project on June 10, 2021, "Brandeis University Women’s Studies Research Center Announces Fulbright Award for 2021-2022." Josh Idaszak, Office of Communications & Public Affairs at Wellesley College, published a profile of my upcoming Fulbright project along with other alums from my alma mater, on August 17, 2021, "Wellesley’s 2021-22 Fulbrights Prepare to Launch into the World." Listen to the Ladies Knight podcast with Jen Shahade featuring Donna Dodson LK036, Nov 18, 2021. Watch a recording of the Brandeis University Women's Studies Research Center's Fall lecture on Dec 2, 2021, "Damsel in Charge: Inventing a Powerful Female Stereotype," with Fulbright US Scholar, Donna Dodson engaged in conversation with award-winning animator Trina Baker on their joint collaboration where Dodson's Amazon warrior sculptures are translated into three-dimensional digital characters in a short animation with the assistance of Brandeis Student Scholar partners, Cyrenity Augustin and Pilar Duvivier, and Lesley University interns, Lexy Saunders, Aimee Ham and Siana DiGregorio. Watch a recording of my recent presentation on Jan 6, 2022 "What Do We Call Courageous Women" for the session "Queer Representations and Receptions of Amazons" at the Society of Classical Studies/Archaeological Institute of America joint annual meeting