Professor Julia Bozer
Arts 1105
15 September 2011
Ron Dahline
Ron Dahline is one of the most interestingly outrageous artists I have seen. Ever since I convinced my parents to purchase on of his pieces, after seeing it in one of his galleries in Florida, I've admired his work. All of Dahline's pottery is terrifying but also has a sense of humor to it. I feel as though he lets out his inner demon whenever he creates a piece. Dahline uses mostly dark colors in his pottery to complement their Gothic style. Dahline creates horrific faces but puts the wildest looks on them. His artwork is mostly on jugs and mugs which isn't practical because it is quite unsightly to see an ugly, terrifyingly realistic demon head when pouring a jug of water or drinking a cup of coffee. His pieces are also quite fragile due to how intricate his work is, but to make his art functional he makes it dishwasher safe. So if you really wanted to you could actually use Dahline's art in everyday life. If I personally owned his art I would use it in everyday life simply because it would be completely out of the norm and that's what I view as clever and interesting.
The piece I chose of Dahline's for this essay is a four legged, mean faced alligator type jug with two ell like snakes slithering on his back. The long snout of the alligator, with its jagged, peal white teeth and quivering lips clearly appears to be growling. The alligator is growling at and maybe even about to bite something above it according to the piercing look in his blue and green eyes. The pair of snakes and alligator all seem to be looking in the same direction. They give off the sense that they are all on the same team and preparing to attack some sort of prey. I think it must be prey because they don't seem to be intimidated, and the grin on the snakes faces don't make them look like they are about to attack in self defense. The smile on the right snake is almost a taunting smile which make this piece very