Today’s blog entry is an observation and analysis of an object from the Joukowsky Institute’s “Vault”, the secure storage area for the Institute’s permanent collection. I’m going to be using a format based on guidelines provided by JIAAW doctoral candidate Emily Booker to create my analysis of this statue.
I got drawn to this artifact by its uniqueness and resemblance to a mythical creature. I noticed it has the facial structure of a dog but the features of a lion. For example the nose, mouth, ears, and tail all resemble a dog to me. But you can also see that it has hair that slightly resembles a lion’s hair. It makes me wonder how these ancient civilizations came up with such a creature.
The observation starts with the color of the object. This statue only has 3 colors. It has a brown color and a washed out gray-ish color with a black base. It looks like the statue was meant to be all black but over time the color started to fade away.
Next is the Line of the object: what words capture the quality of line in this work? This object has detailed groves all over the statue. All the joints are smooth, and there aren’t too many jagged lines.
Next we have to analyze the texture of the object. This sculptural hybrid of multiple animals is crafted out of what looks like bronze with a base made out of wood. The face and hair is detailed enough to the point where you can make out each distinctive feature of its face, even down to its fangs. You can see that the hair has this spiral pattern on the chest of the creature. These features are detailed but smooth.
Lastly, we are going to analyze the Composition of the artifact. How are the visual elements of the work arranged? Do they seem balanced? The statue is slightly off center on the base. The creature is sitting down and looks like it’s leaning back a bit. This could maybe be on purpose to make it seem more intimidating by puffing out its chest like that. All of the details on the artifact are almost symmetrical. The only thing that isn’t centered is the tail. Maybe the artist did this on purpose and made slight imperfections. Or maybe it wasn’t intended but still came out this way. But that’s what makes it unique.