| Martha Dunigan |  |
The work exhibited here is a further development of Dunigan's deep connection to the natural processes of creation and decay so dramatically revealed in the New England coastal environment, and of her attachment to that environment. It is a continuation of the theme of habitat and home which Dunigan explored last year with her series of "conceptual birdhouses", work developed out of an invitation she received to contribute a birdhouse for an auction for Habitat for Humanity.
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The sculptures on view this season were created in the past year as Dunigan prepared to retire from the faculty of the North Carolina School for the Arts and return to live in her native land. (Dunigan is the daughter of painter Philip Malicoat and grew up on the beaches and dunes of Provincetown). Between homes, leaving one and going to another, the house – that compelling shape that decorates the Cape horizon and has attracted and inspired since the beginning of human history – stirred a deeper resonance in Dunigan.
In "Cabanas" Dunigan works with tarred canvas, wire, thread to create 6 house-shaped shells. Viewing them hung along one wall, one is reminded of the familiar bayside cottages, sitting empty in winter. The nest, the ladder, the wheel, the saw, the mask – all enrich the metaphoric language at work in Dunigan's sculptures. The quirky "Old House with Crow's Feet" a tarpaper shack with a ridge of beach shards along the back that look like feathers, balanced on scrawny, carved black feet, brings home with pure Dunigan humor the often brutal truth of the natural world and the place of aging and decay in the creative process. The work here transcends shape and function and calls to our ancient human longings. "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in," writes Robert Frost. Welcome home, Martha.
Dunigan has received numerous grants and awards, including being named 1994 Artist of the Year at the Sawtooth Center for Visual Design in North Carolina. She has exhibited in both solo and group shows at galleries and museums in New England and throughout the Southeast. Her work is included in many public and private collections including Wake Forest College, Barclays, Wachovia Bank & Trust, Graylyn Art Center and Mandala Art Center, among others. She is the mother of Breon Dunigan, also a sculptor.