Ledelle Moe: When at MASS MoCA

ooh they’re massive heads

Walking into the largest art gallery in the USA, I wasn’t immediately sure what I was looking at. I approached the large, slightly rounded sculptures with curiosity until I realised they were massive heads and then I was delighted. I mean who doesn’t like giant sculptures of human heads?

I was immediately reminded of a trip I took to Luxor, Egypt and the broken parts of absolutely colossal statues of gods that I saw on the floor of most temples.

Instead of stone though, Moe’s heads are made from smaller pieces of concrete, joined together with steel seams. Challenging the idea of those huge monuments from the past and posing questions about who we choose to honour.

From giant heads to tiny heads, ‘Congregation’ was my favourite piece of Moe’s exhibit at MASS MoCA.

There was something fascinating about these tiny concrete portraits. Moe really has been able to create individual sculptures that have so much personality. For me it felt like Moe was creating her own village or community out of concrete, a powerful statement at a time when borders are trying to separate us more than ever.

Another way that Moe challenges our perceptions of statues and size is with ‘Remain’ an 18 foot-tall statue of a woman kneeling. Not only is it unusual to see something that huge indoors, but the way that she was kneeling down, is a strangely submissive pose for such a huge statue. It made me think about how we attribute size to power.

Remain, 2019, Concrete and steel, courtesy of the artist. Installation of Ledelle Moe: When in B5. December 5, 2019. https://massmoca.org/event/ledelle-moe/

Once I had marvelled at the size and details of Moe’s work, I have been left thinking about the messages in them for a long time. Size, power, perception, ownership, are themes that the world is still trying to get to grips with and I think Moe’s work poses some interesting questions.

Read more about Moe’s work on her website.