R E V IE W E D
The
Peaceable
Queendom
Wexler Gallery
Philadelphia,
р л
Маг. 5-М ау і, 2010
wexlergallery.com
Ву Robin Rice
Left:
R e g a rd in g E n tro p y ,
2010, modified taxider-
mist’s mannequin,
leather, found object,
body 64 x 17 x 59 in.,
head 28 x 19 x 28 in.
In Adelaide Paul’s sculpture, polarities of
perfection and imperfection, nature and
artifice, and wholeness and incompleteness
find a balance. Fantastical yet anatomically
drawn from life, the familiar mammals
she creates are elegant and often charming,
while incorporating what many would
regard as ugliness: death presented in the
form of a trophy, or mutilation and injury.
Paul stitches intricate patterns of leather
over animal forms manufactured for taxi-
dermy. Intended to support the skins of real
animals, the taxidermy mannequins are life-
size and accurate in the details of muscula-
ture. Paul covers them with skin—not what
we would expect in a living animal, but
tanned, hairless, dyed leather, relieved only
by seams resembling the stitching on a base-
ball in miniature. The symmetrical piecing
and execution are stunning in their perfec-
tion. It is just barely possible to detect the
slight variation between machine-stitching
done by Paul before the skin is glued to
the body and the hand-stitching she uses
for finer details on the body of the animal.
032 amcrican craft june/july 10
www.WorldMags.net & www.Journal-Plaza.net
Photos courtesy of Wexler Gallery.
