artist Dani Dodge, above
Now at Shoebox Projects through April 14th, Dani Dodge offers mixed media works in a tribute to the Joshua Tree that is profoundly moving and beautiful. The exhibition, My Ugly/Beautiful Friends, is comprised of two compelling parts.
With “Wielding Swords,” Dodge deconstructs the Joshua Tree spikes into separate stories of survival, love, and loneliness. Much like the human body, these spikes age; they metamorphose, going from upright to drooping to being absorbed as a protective coating for the plant itself.
Here, working with mixed mediums in dimensional wall sculptures sheathed in thick plastic that are alternately chartreuse, clear, and hot pink that also forms the shapes, Dodge offers seeds, beads, glittery fabric, even film shoot permits as a part of her reprsentations.
There is – or was – (Dodge is selling out this show) – an entire wall, a quilt of sculptural images on display like a surreal forest of these fierce and wonderful desert leaves.
Beautiful and evocative as this work is, the other part of her exhibition resonates even more strongly.
In “Symbiosis 1-12,” the artist explores the Joshua Tree’s ugly/beauty and its symbiotic relationship with the yucca moth, on which the trees rely for pollination; in turn, the moth depends on the Joshua Trees for their survival.
Using her own photographs, adding her own notes and painted art work, she adds a moving depth to the story of the trees, their strange beauty and toughness, and the somewhat bizarre moth itself which sports tentacle-like fronds from its mouth.
Dodge explains her process in creating these works. “Over the past four months or so, I had been photographing these plants that captivated me while doing residences at the Mojave National Preserve and the Prime Desert Woodland Preserve in Lancaster, Calif. I loved the photographs, but as an artist I wanted to say more about the plants than I could capture in a photo. I wanted to simultaneously emphasize their strength and fragility at the same time I explored their awkward beauty.”
And so Dodge added additional, lush elements. She rims some of the trees with gold leaf; utilizes spray paint; incorporates beads. She used hand-cut stencils, paint pens and acrylic paint to incorporate the yucca moth into her works, and to further place emphasis on what she calls the “ugly/beautiful nature of my friends;” she crafts what she calls “S.O.S. notes” for their survival.
These are deeply moving works, reminiscent of religious icons in her treatment, not just because of the touches of gold, but in her reverence for these mysterious, otherworldly trees.
“When I wanted to push past what the photographic image could say, I decided to use a symbol of beauty and wealth: gold. Specifically gold leaf on the sides of each work and then incorporated into the photograph in some of the pieces,” she says. “Each time I go into the desert, those arms welcome me. I wanted the gold to symbolize the beauty some do not see in the branches of these plants that were called hideous by some early explorers.”
According to the artist “This installation is an ode to the Joshua Tree’s ability to adapt and survive for so long, and a prayer that it may continue.” That prayer may be necessary indeed due to both climate change and the trees’ slow reproduction and dispersal rate.
She adds “To me, the Joshua Tree simultaneously symbolizes survival and fragility. It demonstrates the power of adaptation, while also illustrating the danger of climate change (even) to the most adaptable species. This plant also is one of the most ugly/beautiful pieces of nature on our planet.”
Photo above by L. Aviva Diamond
The Joshua tree was given its name by a group of Mormon settlers who crossed the Mojave Desert in the mid-19th century. Its unique shape reminded them of a Biblical story in which Joshua reaches his hands up to the sky in prayer. Joshua’s own name has a meaning: Yahweh is salvation. And to many, including Dodge, the trees represent their own form of salvation, redemption, and resilience.
“To me,” she says, “those akimbo branches are like the arms of broken souls welcoming me into their fold.”
Photo above by Thalassa Dimitra Skandali
Dodge creates immersive, surrealist environments and installations from Los Angeles to Stockholm. A member of the Durden and Ray collective in Los Angeles, and alumnae of A.I.R. gallery in New York, you can read more about her at
http://www.danidodge.comAnd go see this show with a prayer in your heart and wings on your feet. We did.
Shoebox Projects is located in DTLA at The Brewery Complex in Lincoln Heights.
– Genie Davis; photos: Genie Davis; two additional photos: by L. Aviva Diamond, and from Dimitra Skandali, as noted above.
