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Lot Essay
In discussing the recurrent use of the female body in her art, Kiki Smith states: "Our bodies are basically stolen from us, and my work is about trying to reclaim one's own turf, or one's own vehicle of being here, to own it and to use it to look at how we are here" (cited in Isaak, p. 22).
Raised Catholic and the daughter of sculptor Tony Smith, religion and art played formative roles in her conception of the female body. As described by Jo Ann Isaak:
Her statue of Mary Magdalene recalls Donatello's wooden Penitent Magdalene, hair covering her body, that source of so much temptation. In Smith's version she is large, the hair seems to have grown as a protection against the elements. She drags a broken chain from one leg, like a dancing bear escaped from the circus, but she is dancing-mad, caught between animal and human heat. When she was making this sculpture Smith had in mind French folk tales of Mary Magdalene's life after the death of Christ. It is one of many cautionary tales every culture tells to repress the sexuality of young girls: "Mary Magdalene lives in the wilderness for seven years to atone for her sins. One day while drinking from a pool she sees her image reflected back to her and is condemned again for her narcissism. Her tears create the seven rivers of Provence (Isaak, p. 21-22).
Raised Catholic and the daughter of sculptor Tony Smith, religion and art played formative roles in her conception of the female body. As described by Jo Ann Isaak:
Her statue of Mary Magdalene recalls Donatello's wooden Penitent Magdalene, hair covering her body, that source of so much temptation. In Smith's version she is large, the hair seems to have grown as a protection against the elements. She drags a broken chain from one leg, like a dancing bear escaped from the circus, but she is dancing-mad, caught between animal and human heat. When she was making this sculpture Smith had in mind French folk tales of Mary Magdalene's life after the death of Christ. It is one of many cautionary tales every culture tells to repress the sexuality of young girls: "Mary Magdalene lives in the wilderness for seven years to atone for her sins. One day while drinking from a pool she sees her image reflected back to her and is condemned again for her narcissism. Her tears create the seven rivers of Provence (Isaak, p. 21-22).