Dana King
Radical Ingenuity, 2020

wire, spun wool, feathers, peppercorn seeds, thread, string, leaves
60”H x 30”W x 25”D

ARTWORK STATEMENT:

Radical Ingenuity I came home one day and found a nest nearly as long as my forearm with a smallish hole for the eggs laying on the ground by my California Pink Peppercorn tree where it had fallen. Inside were the tiniest eggs in the avian world, produced by a Hummingbird. They were protected by that gigantic nest built by birds that normally build the tiniest nests, often no bigger around than a quarter. I realized the nest was built to replicate the Peppercorn tree’s long, weeping branches of lacy pinnate leaves. The Hummingbird’s genius allowed it to survive in a hostile world while living in harmony with it. Survival depends on radical ingenuity. Humans must adapt to an ever-changing climate by creating change that repairs the damage from human encroachment, agricultural expansion, deforestation, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, waste, plastics, and other known and unknown factors. Humans can no longer defend and protect the status quo. It no longer serves us or the planet. Radical ingenuity is necessary if this planet and the people who inhabit it are going to survive. Hummingbird ingenuity.

Artist Bio:

Dana King sculpts black bodies in bronze. While that staple of art is physically different from “Radical Ingenuity,” there are some commonalities from her figurative work. Black bodies in bronze are created because they all exhibit industriousness, creativity, bravery, tenacity, and ingenuity to prevail in a hostile world. Everything on this planet serves a purpose and is consumed by humans at great cost to our survival. “Radical Ingenuity” calls forth our ability to envision a better way.