"Trophy II" By Joan Harmon

Trophy II is a ceramic wall sculpture- height: 26". Trophy II merges the concept of fertility and conquest. The contrasts found in the concepts of trophies are curious. There are the trophies that are composed of disembodied prey decoratively mounted on a hunter’s wall and there are women who are deemed to be “trophy wives.” This work also draws from the mythological, referencing Artemis of Ephesus, combining fertility with conquest. Looking at sculptures of Artemis of Ephesus, there is a common assumption that the spherical objects are female breasts. This is incorrect, they most likely represent the testicles of a bull, a symbol of fertility that persists to this day.