Total Pageviews

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The Week in Review: Ms. Alison Saar at the Figge Museum

I spent the last four days reviewing 3100+ pictures I took during my week in Cape Cod.  Also, I reviewed the week driving across country.  I want to share my experiences in a deeper level.  So, over the next few blogs I will pick the highlights of the trip and break down why it moved me to photograph and write.  Today, I write about Alison Saar's exhibit at the Figge Museum, Davenport, IA.

First, the photograph:

Since my visit to the Figge Museum this particular sculpture has haunted me.  I wondered how the antlers played into the artistic message of the artist.  So I did some research.  I looked up the significance of antlers. My initial reaction to this piece was the antlers represented the "crown" of the woman.  The antlers all around her feet represent other females such as the subject.  Others subjugated to social brutality.  Her hand grasping her breast and the position suggests--sustaining the culture almost an act of breast feeding to maintain the future, or to sustain those still in the struggle.  The woman tied--self, entangled in social constructs which abuses the native, natural being.  She carries her tied bound self capable of a super strength to find fullness, as defined by the stance of the subject.  This sculpture cast the sense of nihilism and hope together in an odd cacophony of life.

My research on antlers uncovered the following: Spiritual antennae, tuning of feminine energies.  The Greek's Artemis, the virginal huntress.  The Hellenic goddess of the hunt. The protector of young girls.  The reliever of disease.  There is a gentleness attached to the image of antlers.  When one sees antlers, it is a time of reflection, a time of gentleness, a time to contemplate peace.

After my research I thought my initial interpretation of Ms.Saar's piece may be off mark.  But as I contemplate, I find there is a symbolic paralleling. The "crown" of the woman -- her spiritual antennae in tact, huge and expansive, able to carry and protect against the brutal social constructs woman attempt to navigate.  The myriad of antlers scattered at her feet call for gentleness, and peace.  The subject standing among the antlers that obviously were part of others such as herself.  Yes, there is a need for peace and gentleness, protection and basic human compassion folded in to the darkness that hoovers heavy above this piece.

I love this piece because it makes me think.  It makes me emotionally aware.  It slips from my intellectual grappling and pins me to the mat. Thank you Ms. Saar, again. for your voice.

  

Please visit: Twitter: @FilmRobin for up-to-date info on where I am travelling for ART. LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/robinscottpeters for complete resume & work history. Smashwords.com and look for Dr. Robin Scott Peters Ebooks now available. YouTube: Youtube.com/user/robinscottpeters for all my video work.

No comments:

Post a Comment