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A QUICK LOOK AT JOCELYNE DODIER

Jocelyne Dodier headshotIn this time and space, is Dodier an artist? Or an entrepreneur; or a sculptor; or a performer; or a scientist; or a hair stylist; or a farmer? I am definitely a little bit of all of that! Born and raised on a farm in the province of Québec, Canada, I grew up appreciating stone, contrary to many farmers who despised them. As a matter of fact stone stacks were playgrounds and each stone could incarnate treasures to be discovered. This interest for stone really reignited ten years ago, when I tackled my first carving, Cybèle, a pregnant figure, meaning the birth of my art. When I carve there is a delirium of stories coming out of the mechanics of carving. Is this normal?

Red stone: “Murmure”, marble treated with muriatic acid on a granite base, 11” X 8” X 1.75”. From half of a split stone, I immediately spotted contrasting colours: Red with distinct stripes and splashes crossing in the middle of a pink feminine silhouette surrounded with gray. By its evocative nature, this marble could only become a symbol of femininity in its entirety, including her secrets! The stone named “Murmure” speaks out loud what most women would keep intimate or secret.Approach to “Murmure”: I simply wanted to create something fluid and abstract and let the stone speak. I want it crude, which is explained by the bumps passing thru the body of the silhouette. Then the red part, which was the hardest part of the stone, would resemble a splash of water dripping or exploding and squirting. All through that dime-sized passage, we can see through and imagine the versatility, the vulnerability, the sensuality, sexuality, fertility, love, hate and the entire well-kept intimate secrets of her flesh. I simply could not resist exposing the crude and bloody femininity of her organ in all her nudity, and without camouflaging stories of her womanhood. 

Approach to “Inner Child”: At first the triangular shape of white marble did not transpire any inspiration. So, I started to feel the stone with chisels and hammers to discover what marble really is! Following some hits on the top of the stone, I found it very intimidating on the elbows and wrists, but I discovered a shape of a winter jacket hoody on a child; and voilá an ambitious piece was born. 

White marble triple image: “Inner Child”, Italian marble on layered base of white marble and oak, 8” X 11” X 8”. details a portrait of a child playing with snowballs. A drilled heart of 3" deep in her chest defines the passion at the core of this child, the vulnerability as well as the openness to the world. It represents playful memories as a way to cheer up after a snowstorm.I researched proportions by creating a model to help me see through possible pauses. That helped me tremendously. Then I got stuck with what to do with the extra stone in the back of my figure. It was through a brainstorm session with colleagues that it was revealed to me that I would carve three snowballs in her back. The next challenge was to figure out the balance. So, I created a wire figure model. 

Then the following thing was demystifying facial expressions of children with a playful look. I looked at videos, photos and selected a special photo depicting hair, eyes, nose. I was told that this type of marble can take details, so I even did eye brows and eye lashes. 

The daring final touch was to drill a 3” deep heart to create whole-hearted emotions. The meaning would be: feeling the world in a naive and non-judgmental way, a metaphor demonstrating the desire of openness of experiencing new possibilities. 

Visit Jocelyne's website: https://www.galeriedodier.com/