In my blog of 9/28/13 I wrote about the difficulty of selecting artwork that could fit the requirements of art shows that have themes. I recently found myself trying to select a sculpture that might be a suitable entry for the upcoming "Innerscape" themed exhibit at the River Arts Gallery in Damariscotta. I was feeling that a juror might interpret "Innerscape'" as some sort of interior landscape, as opposed to a broader interpretation, such as inner self. I emailed Linda Morkeski, River Arts' Executive Director, and she agreed that I should think of "inner" in the broader sense... that "inside" might be a direction I could go in for sculpture. This expanded interpretation of the theme led me to select one of my small bronze sculptures, 'Lady Bountiful', as an entry for the show. |
The name of this piece evolved from my interest in cartoon art. I am a longtime collector of art and books related to cartooning, and I was aware of a turn of the century newspaper comic strip drawn by cartoonist Gene Carr that was titled 'Lady Bountiful'. Just as I felt the poultry waterer and the buxom bronze torso had a kinship as dispensers of essential liquid sustenance, Carr's Lady Bountiful character was woman of means who dispensed care and support to poor street urchins. I knew that the term 'Lady Bountiful' had been used prior to the publishing of Carr's comic strip and in my research of the strip I found that 'Lady Bountiful' had been one of the major characters in writer George Farquhar's 1707 comedy titled "The Beaux Stratagem". Farquhar's 'Lady B' also had been a wealthy woman who devoted much her life to doing good works for the less fortunate. I felt my piece was in good company. As for the connection of my piece to the theme of "innerscape" - the bronze torso is a symbolic dispenser contained within an actual dispenser, which is in turn an actual container. The bronze is therefore in the 'innerscape" of the container. *Rest my case. |