“This vessel is one of many in the series titled Unsung Muses and illustrates some of the enigmatic narratives surrounding Lilith. In one frame she soaks up the full moon in all her glory, and in another, she is seen eating a child. The story goes that she was punished for not being submissive to Adam; in one tale, she is cursed to eat her own children and in another to watch 100 of her babies die every day for the rest of time. While Lilith has been demonized, feminist scholars have taken a different perspective of her story. Today, many women see her story as representing all of us who do not wish to be considered less than anyone else, and in this way, Lilith becomes a symbol of divine feminine power."
Of Course, You Weren’t Made to be Subservient, 2015 Sculpture
Of Course, You Weren’t Made to be Subservient; They Will Demonize You Anyway (Lillith), 2015
Hand-built and carved porcelain vase
Dimensions: 19.5 H x 10 W x 10 D in.
Weight: 10 lbs
Alex Hodge was always drawn to the arts and regularly channeled her creativity as a child whether in watercolor classes or scrapbooking with her mother. Hodge focuses on prioritizing women’s narratives in all aspects of her work. Through the decorative and symbolic details, she hints at narratives without completing them to invite the viewer to participate in creating meaning. The women she invents exist in the present but is of the imagined future in which we all have room to flourish, to tell our stories, to give and receive love, and to express the beauty and pain of the human condition. Fundamentally, her artworks are a celebration of the tenacity and vulnerability of women and clay, an interplay of history and hope.
