Cosmos, 2000
Two of Kline���s works deal with
Frankenstein, the story of a
man-made man. Dream of Mary
Shelley (1999) which refers to the
tale���s author, is of bronze turned
bright vegetal green. In form it
is like a cabbage deliquescing,
a round ambiguous object that
appears neither ���natural��� nor
man-made. At its center are
overlapping leaves. Mary Shelley
wrote (gave birth) to a monster,
Frankenstein; Kline is dreaming
(and recreating) this myth of
unnatural genesis. Eleven years
later, in ���Bride of Frankenstein,���
Kline revisits the story with
another round, or rather ovoid
work, in white encaustic on
panel. Concentric ridges work
their way towards a central inner
sanctum; the sexual symbolism
is again inescapable. In this more
mature work, Kline has conceived
a mate for Frankenstein of tight
concentric circles.
The word ���dream��� recurs
in Kline���s titles, providing a
subterranean path through his
cryptic works. Dream of Betsy
HYLAND
