Set of Four Carved Porcelain Vases, 2014

Alex Hodge   New & remarkable Artists

This vessel is the first of the Unsung Muses series, and it references two compositions by Cezanne in which women are seen bathing, undisturbed by the voyeurism of the artist and/or viewer. However, in my version, the two women on the “back" are staring straight out at the audience as if they are perturbed by our interruption. The text reads from front to back, “we are not here for / your viewing pleasure." This piece is meant to speak to the way women are constantly objectified and ogled for male gratification while offering a firm statement on our autonomy. Unsung Muses is a group of large-scale vessels, wall pieces, and small sculptures which comprised a solo exhibition at the University of Georgia's School of Art in October 2015. 

The works were accompanied by an excerpt from an Adrienne Rich poem titled "Transcendental Etude." The excerpt reads: "But in fact we were always like this, rootless, dismembered: knowing it makes the difference. Birth stripped our birthright from us, tore us from a woman, from women, from ourselves so early on and the whole chorus throbbing at our ears like midges, told us nothing, nothing of origins, nothing we needed to know, nothing that could re-member us." Alex Hodge is an artist-ceramist primarily interested in creating work that juxtaposes the canon of Western art with the lived experiences of contemporary women. As a queer woman growing up in the rural south, she became familiar with the feeling of being on the periphery, spending her youth wandering the woods, collecting material for small sculptures and creating stories for herself. 

1. History Lesson Power Is Always Taken (30 lbs) 36 H x 22 W x 10 D in. 2. We Belong Only to Ourselves (18 lbs) 16 H x 20.5 W x 8 D in. 3. Tribute to Astarte and Her Spirit of Tenacity (20 lbs) 24 H x 11 W x 11 D in. 4. Reimagining the Divine as You (34 lbs) 36 H x 20 W x 8 D in.