Duckotomy

Duckotomy
Originally uploaded by shermans.

From Fowler’s _Avian Artists_, U of Penn P, 1977.

In “Dichotomy” and “Duckotomy,” Hermanson explores the Manichean struggle both internally and avianly. Notice the intense owl-like quality of “Dichotomy.” In "Duckotomy" notice the peculiar expression on the mallard’s face/beak, resonant with the struggle for autonomy in a world denied free will. The subject in common (reportedly the artist’s attorney or accountant) expresses an almost child-like innocence in both works, yet remains aloof, distant; her thoughts uncommunicated, beyond language. Hers is a heresy we can only imagine.