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Alex Hodge
The Ecstasy of St. Teresa. Porcelain Sculpture, with hand-painted detail
2019

About the Item

The Ecstasy of St Teresa One of a kind “This piece is a part of the Historic Jar Collection and references Bernini’s marble sculpture of the same name. While Bernini created an erotic scene to be housed in the Cornaro Chapel, Hodge seats the two women in a domestic setting signaled by the style of the chair. Further, by replacing the angel figure with another woman, she highlights women’s capacity to spiritually enrich one another.” This intricate Porcelain and gold piece is part of Alex Hodge’s Historic Jar Collection that celebrates the tenacity and vulnerability of women and clay, an interplay of history and hope. The three series center around the woman as an art historical trope who becomes a contemporary archetype of tenderness and tenacity with her own narrative. The tradition of the woman as muse or object is questioned and turned upside down as I give my women the position of the subject, i.e. the position of power. The jars which uphold pairs of women are the ultimate overturn of male dominance as she removes and replaces all male characters from famous artworks with women. The couples care for one another and are so consumed in their connection that the viewer is ignored. They do not exist for the viewer’s fantasy because their desires are already filled. Through these three bodies of work, she creates archival objects which combine to build a narrative of women’s power, based on the Love Ethic, as discussed by bell hooks in her book, All About Love. Further, notions of power are investigated in tandem with Mary Follett’s writings on power, which delineate the Western conception as power-over, and the feminist ideal as power-with. Alex Hodge grew up on a blueberry farm in South Georgia where she learned the value of cultivating the earth. Currently based in Miami, Florida, Hodge focuses on prioritizing women’s narratives in all aspects of her work. Her poetic porcelain objects examine and reimagine the history of art in a way that values women, not only in body, but in wholeness, power, and love. By combining sculptural and drawn elements, such as carved and painted patterns, her works create a dialogue between space and line, form and surface for a dynamic viewing experience. Often limiting her color palette to black and white, she uses the carving technique called sgraffito to incise her pieces with drawings, her own text, and pattern. Focusing on the narrative qualities of art making, Hodge weaves stories into the clay which are both personal and universal. Through the decorative and symbolic details, she hints at narratives without completing them to invite the viewer to participate in creating meaning. The women she invents exist in the present but are of the imagined future in which we all have room to flourish, to tell our stories, to give and receive love, and to express the beauty and pain of the human condition. Fundamentally, her artworks are a celebration of the tenacity and vulnerability of women and clay, an interplay of history and hope.

Creator:

Alex Hodge

Creation Year:

2019

Dimensions:

Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)Diameter: 4.5 in (11.43 cm)

Medium:

Porcelain,Gold,Paint

Period:

2010-

Condition:

Gallery Location: