Leigh Macdonald
The Tricephalos & The Red Shoes
Opening Friday, June 3, 6-10pm
June 3 – 26, 2022
Ludmila Gallery
129 1/2 Hunter St. W. 2nd Floor Peterborough ON
gallery@atelierludmila.com
Gallery Hours
Saturday & Sundays noon to 5pm
By appointment: 705 957-7310
Artist Statement
This is the story of The Tricephalos & The Red Shoes
The Red Shoes
Yes, it was desire…when many years ago, I bought this pair of red shoes on sale
I love these shoes
They have never fit me
They were always half a size too small
I bought them anyway
What do you think of when you see red shoes?
The Tricephalos
I like the idea – of escaping dualism, having a third option
Keri Hulme introduced me to the tricephalos in her book The Bone People.
“ But her fingers begin sliding over the clay, moulding. For the first time in a year, she knows exactly what she wants to make and how to make it. Beads of clay flattened, beads of clay raised. Day by day, the three faces grow. The blunt blind features become definite, refined, awake. Back of head to back of head to back of head: a tricephalos.”
A Tricephalos, I asked myself?
What is that?
The Red Shoes in Hans Christen Anderson’s fairy tale are stuck
The girl will always get her feet chopped off at the end of the story
She does not have a choice..
A tricephalos could offer three possible endings to this story of the red shoes
Leigh Macdonald
4′ x 3′ acrylic on canvas
$650 SOLD
20″ x 16″ acrylic on canvas
$175 SOLD
24″ x 18″ oil stick on canvas
$275 SOLD
24″ x 19″ acrylic on canvas
$350
25″ x 25″ acrylic on canvas
$600
33″ x 16″ $300 SOLD
18″ x 21″ mixed media
$275 SOLD
25″ x 35″ acrylic, oil stick, collage
$500
24″ x 36″ acrylic on canvas
$600 SOLD
48″ x 22″ acrylic, pencil on board
$400
23″ x 31″ acrylic on canvas
$550
Thank you to,
Laurel Paluck, Lynda Hall, John Marris, Kristine Albright and The Kawartha Pottery Guild Jeska Rowland, Cydnee Hosker, Chad Emby, Kelly O’Neil, Ramune Luminaire and Lino Hilsdon
She returns along the river, red shoes
dampened by morning dew. She crosses
the asphalt trail – dodging the whiz/bash of
bikes – then zig-zags up the grass path to
the house. Inside, the house is a studio, a
canvas, a museum. Bright colours on the
doors, the walls, the kitchen cabinets. A
massive ornate sideboard occupies a wall.
A round mirror salvaged from childhood
rests on another. The kitchen floor is vast
and empty and invites dancing.The piano
waits in the front room. The accordion in the
back room.
The house is her stage. She weaves
through the rooms, through artifacts and
heirlooms. She wakes up the piano, sings
to the plants, dresses in gowns and reads
at the table. She weaves through the
stories and images that surround her,
inundate her, and demand to be heard and
seen. Things repeat: figures, swirls, doors,
round mirror, 3 faces, red shoes. Her hands
turn to paint, clay, paper, board, fabric.
Assembling, moving, making. And re-
making. Red Shoes. Tricephalos.
Lynda Hall
Ludmila Gallery 