Isthea

Pamela Boden

This surreal drawing by Pamela Boden appears to be a self-portrait, viewed from above and wedged into the right side of the composition. In the background are structures that resemble many of her sculptures, ancient building ruins, once again threatened by stormy skies, which two figures appear to be addressing. The Italian island of Ischia is a volcanic island located in the Gulf of Naples and has been inhabited since the 9th century with a colorful history.

Boden lived and exhibited in Paris in the 1930s and was associated with the Surrealists and Dadaists. She was a close friend of composer Peggy Glanville-Hicks and Stanley Bate (to whom she was briefly married). She designed the decor for Bate's 1939 revival of 'Perseus.'

After moving to America from Portugal in 1945 and exhibiting her sculptures in 1946 at Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century Gallery, Pamela Boden moved to Taos, New Mexico area and was exhibiting there at the Galeria Escondida which featured the Taos modernists and surrealists.

There is an experimental film by "Dunite" artist Elwood Decker done in 1947 that uses Boden's sculpture in the beginning of the film. It can be seen at: http://elwooddecker.com/ColorFragments.html

Pamela Boden's work is discussed and shown on pages 76 through 81 of volume I in Emerging from the Shadows: A Survey of Women Artists Working in California, 1860-1960.