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. [Return to the Maude Dorr]         MAUDE DORR Maude Dorr has been a journalist, photographer, consultant and most recently an artist combining many of these interests. After a stint at the New York Studio School in the 1990's she went to Australia and did a series of charcoal portraits based on late 19th century photographs of Australian aborigines. A sojourn in Santa Fe inspired additional portraits based on Edward S. Curtis photos. Dorr explains: "These are purposefully large drawings as people often seem larger to me than life: their presence and personality make them impinge with greater impact than you would attribute to their physical size and a photograph in a book hardly seems to do them justice. A large surface to work on also gives me space for bold strokes of charcoal, as well as very careful detail." Paper, charcoal and erasers are the only materials used. These portraits, including one of a New Zealand Maori, resulted in a show at The Fremantle Arts Center in Western Australia in l997. Her next work was a series of drawings of nests, one of which is shown here. These were small; most no larger than 11" x 16, but the subject metamorphosed from nest to nebula; an interesting exercise in inverted scale. The only tool, added to charcoal and eraser, was a clay modeling stick used to incise the paper and create fine lines. These drawings were the focus of a solo show at the Po Gallery in Providence, RI in 2002. Dorr's most recent work, a series of photographic collages, emerged from a visit to India in late 2002 and a stay in Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh. Bhopal, which lies at the heart of India, is a great city of one million people that borders on two man-made lakes. This was the location of the Union Carbide pesticide factory where on the night of December 2nd, 1984, during a routine operation, water entered a tank containing MIC (Methyl Iso Cyanate), causing heat and pressure to build, the gas to expand, and escape. A cloud of toxic chemicals invaded nearby communities, bringing an agonizing, choking death to 7000 people in the first three days. Half a million people were exposed of which 120,000 to150,000 continue to be chronically ill today. Lung diseases are prevalent: the rate of TB is 3 times higher than the norm in India, and women have numerous gynecological problems. Every month 15-20 continue to die due to gas related illnesses. In addition to the catastrophe of 1984, there has been continuing pollution from the factory. During a visit to the site in late 2002, Dorr was shocked to find that it has been left almost exactly as it was on the night of the disaster. Jars of chemicals still line the shelves of the lab. Papers litter the control room. Poisonous chemicals remain piled in storerooms. The accumulated waste leaches into the ground water and pollutes 200 wells in the adjacent communities. The collages by Dorr are an attempt to show the legacy of disaster from Union Carbide (now owned by Dow Chemical) that continues to plague Bhopal. They are an assemblage of prints carefully joined together to give an accurate and comprehensive view of a situation that remains overwhelming to this day. During her stay in Bhopal, Dorr met a dedicated group of men and women still waging an ongoing battle to bring justice and health to this community. She states: "The staff at the The Sambhavna Clinic, are an extraordinary group of people who offer free medical services to the victims and also engage in the important task of carefully documenting the medical after-effects of this tragedy. These pictures are dedicated to them and to the throng of men, women and children, who on the 18th anniversary of the disaster, crowded into third class railroad carriages, and traveled all night to Bombay to demonstrate in front of Dow Chemical, and demand that 'Dow Clean Up Bhopal Now.'" To learn more about Bhopal, see the following: 1. www.bhopal.net [International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal] 2. www.bhopal.org [Bhopal Medical Appeal / Sambhavna Trust] 3. www.studentsforbhopal.org 4. www.corpwatch.org 5. www.greenpeace.org 6. www.bhopal.com [web site of Dow Chemical Company] [Maude Dorr | Top]