Beasts collection, n.d., n.d, found toys & objects, embroidery, asst’d fibers

Artist Statement:

A herd of dogs distributed by Victoria Secret as a marketing tool to attract young pubescent girls to their PINK

line of lingerie. They are reconstructed and embroider to take on motley new personalities. Their self-contained,

symmetrical poses are not those of pets, but of legendary beasts such a Fu lions, Chinese guardian figures who

traditionally stand at the entry of Chinese palaces protecting the riotous quality of our desires and impulses.

Artist Bio:

Balancing tradition and innovation I employ needlework to infuse renewed power to craft, engage the senses and explore the human condition. I use textiles to convey stories of loss and constraint primarily in women’s lives. Attracted to color and texture, my durational process embraces the ideals of labor and community. I’ve recently introduced ceramics commingling rigid forms with fibers to create vessels that don’t hold water but instead contain stories embodying domestic life.

Aspiring to David Pye’s Workmanship of Risk my final products are not predetermined and controlled from the outset. In contrast they depend on my judgment, dexterity and care during the process of making. It is the direct contact between me and the material that connects to earth and authenticity. I read the rawness and state of unfinish as tenderness and challenge the pristine uniformity of mass-production as the nullification of expression.

Jodi Colella exhibits and teaches internationally. She is a member of Boston Sculptors Gallery and the recipient of a 2019 Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship Award for Sculpture.