The collector (whether he or she gathers coins, antique etchings, or arrowheads) knows the value and pleasure in bringing together objects of some common characteristic or history. Eric Dodson’s collection of Abstracted Artifacts uses the viewer’s own associations and memories to construct small, rich stockpiles of potential applicability. These accumulations could be viewed as anthropological evidence of the products and works of a people, or they could simply be simulacra – displayed out of context, mostly removed from their original meaning, existing as abstract images.
The selected objects are spread into a binding medium to create abstract designs, and the images these assemblages conjure are often somewhat anthropomorphic or zoomorphic. The compositions reference the preferences of nature: symmetry, radiation from a central point or line, gravitation towards an object with a dominant mass. Dodson’s appropriations of both organic and inorganic materials refer to the interrelatedness of all matter, forming links between the elemental makeup of the earth and the projections of the mind onto man-made objects.
A person with some curiosity about what he leaves behind in the world may consider: in 200 years, what information will be gleaned from the bag of refuse he leaves on the curb to be taken to the landfill? Perhaps the collector exercises some control over the arrangement of information that he leaves behind. He chooses objects of some significance to represent himself, his culture, his history, his experience.
– Erin Lindsay Dodson
ARTIST STATEMENT – ERIC DODSON: I have always been interested in the latent residual history of found objects, whether specific or in general. Found objects are inherently imbued with a sense of the progression of time. In that way, they can be viewed as reflective metaphors for the human experience. Objects are touchstones which ground us in the tangible world. They accompany us in our journeys; they stand apart from our consciousness as another.
My work utilizes found objects for their potential connotative possibilities on a variety of levels, including literal, figurative, linguistic, cultural, and personal. These objects and materials are juxtaposed in order to create a subtle matrix of potential resonance of meaning and allusion, but also exist apart from meaning as plastic design elements.
I consider my work as an artist to be related to the creation of an abstracted visual language manifested through inexplicit symbol-forms. I am interested in the intervals within the language, the space between elements. My intention is not to promulgate a specific ideological agenda, but rather to create an environment wherein the viewer is allowed to examine those intervals and glean layers of resonance and potential meaning according to his/her own set of filters and personal vantage point. Connotations are based on the variables that define our individuality (physiological, psychological, experiential, cultural, and the like). The connections made, and the overall translations thereof, are necessarily different from person to person. My work embraces those possibilities.
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