A powerful storyteller

I finally got over to the Marilyn da Silva exhibit at the Palo Alto Art Center, after we ran a preview of it last month. She's masterful at crafting details and finding nuances of feeling in metal, a medium that in other hands might not warm so easily.

All of da Silva's pieces are powerfully narrative, many telling of her pain and confusion after being burned out of her Oakland home by a 1993 fire. The array of candle-snuffers in her "Put Out the Fire" series -- many of them like odd-shaped houses dangling from sticks -- seem to ask "Where is my home now?" Home is somewhere in these dollhouses that have the mystical power to put out small fires, but it's hard to see it through da Silva's microscopic windows and doors.

Another candle-snuffer is in the shape of a saw cutting a home in two. Like much of da Silva's work, it's both playful and plaintive. Indeed, the artist often uses whimsy to soften the stories. One tiny home is shaped like a fish; another candle-snuffer is a doll-sized hat box hanging from a fire engine ladder.

Animals are everywhere, including the birds that perch atop many sculptures. They're figures who can be curious, menacing or ambivalent. Clearly the artist wants her audiences to make up their own narratives as well. Overall, every piece is made with such intricacy and care that da Silva's deep connection to her work shines through.

I was especially drawn to one display case with three silver candle-snuffers shaped like homes. In a lovely juxtaposition, the 1999 piece "North Star Lighthouse" is behind the trio, atop a small wooden dais. While the candle-snuffers are meant to put out fires -- and we've seen the destruction that the flames can cause -- the lighthouse gleams in silver and copper and glass. It feels like a beacon of rebirth, telling us we can rebuild even after a great loss.

I kept thinking of a dear friend who passed away unexpectedly this summer. He loved lighthouses, and I think he would have been drawn to the hope and grace of this piece.

Pictured: Whimsy is clearly present in this candle-snuffer made by Marilyn da Silva: By moving the handle, you can make the rabbit pop out of the hat. (A hat that is also a house -- look closely.) Photo by Marjan Sadoughi.