Donna Dodson: Match of the Matriarchs

November 6, 2026 – March 14, 2027

Curator: Jennifer-Navva Milliken

Match of the Matriarchs centers on a monumental, interactive chessboard featuring 32 movable chess pieces hand-carved from locally salvaged wood. Modeled on female archetypes and marine beings—cephalopods, cetaceans, and mermaids—Dodson’s sculptures transform the traditionally hierarchical game of chess into a speculative arena of matriarchal power and ecological symbolism.

In Dodson’s imagining, chess—long coded as a test of masculine intellect and mastery—becomes a site of reversal, where the queen’s formidable power surfaces and new strategies emerge. Working with reclaimed wood—its ranging tones, cracks, and scars visible to all—Dodson aligns the game with the material’s memory, evoking histories of endurance, adaptation, and transformation.

Match of the Matriarchs occupies the center position of the gallery, while nine stately goddesses stand watch over the unfolding contest. The Match pieces will be activated throughout the exhibition by invited guests, Museum staff, and the artist herself. Beyond this arena, a fully interactive set honoring Caïssa, the dryad and patron muse of chess, awaits the maneuvers of Museum visitors. Complementing Dodson’s works are video and photography by Philadelphia-based chess champion and historian Jennifer Shahade, whose wry, incisive lens reclaims visibility for women in chess culture, in collaboration with video artist Daniel Meirom.

Donna Dodson is an internationally renowned sculpture artist based in Maynard, Massachusetts. Working primarily with salvaged and reclaimed timber, she transforms the material’s grain, scale, and physical presence into expressive female archetypes, mythic beings, and hybrid forms that challenge traditional hierarchies of power. Known for her monumental figurative sculptures, Dodson has created for public spaces and private collections. Her work is held in the permanent collections of the World Chess Hall of Fame, the Fuller Craft Museum, and the Provincetown Art Museum, among others.

A 2022 Fulbright U.S. Scholar at Q21/MuseumsQuartier Vienna, Dodson has completed residencies in Switzerland, Peru, Taiwan, and Denmark. She is currently a Scholar at the Brandeis University Women’s Studies Research Center and formerly a Visual Art Fellow at the St. Botolph Club in Boston. A graduate of Wellesley College, Dodson is represented by Abigail Ogilvy Gallery in Los Angeles.

Donna Dodson: Match of the Matriarchs is generously supported by the Cambium Giving Society of the Museum for Art in Wood, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Bresler Foundation, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the William Penn Foundation, and Windgate Foundation. Important in-kind support for the exhibition installation was graciously provided by Bell Floor Covering, Philadelphia.