Baker Artist Awards - Baltimore Museum of Art

A sculptural dress adorned with cowrie shells along the neckline and center, and a skirt composed of long, hanging strands of black chains interspersed with natural fibers, creating a fringe-like effect.

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This approximately four-and-a-half-foot-tall and one-and-one-third-foot-round sculpture resembles a dress or garment hanging from the ceiling. The upper portion, or bodice, is crafted from a light, tan-colored, structured fabric material decorated with patterns made from beads and cowrie shells. The lower part, or skirt, is constructed using long, dark strands of hemp cord and chains that hang unevenly from the lower edge of the bodice. The sculpture is suspended above a circular arrangement that measures approximately four feet in diameter and is made out of spiky brown gum balls from the sweetgum tree.

Oletha DeVane
(born 1950)
Date:
2012
Medium:
Chains, hemp cord, fabric, beads, sweetgum balls, cowrie shells

Working across public art, sculpture, installation, and works on paper, Oletha DeVane explores materiality, mythology, identity, and transformation. Snakes, birds, saints, mermaids, and other symbols populate her work, evoking the possibility of communication between reality and otherworldly realms. She has spent decades learning, teaching, and making art about the most profound phenomena of the human condition and life’s transformative experiences.

Born in Baltimore, DeVane is a Baltimore-based interdisciplinary artist. She received a B.F.A from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and an M.F.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. DeVane has made an indelible mark on the Baltimore arts community through her work as an artist, educator, and arts administrator.

Courtesy of the artist BMA