Jimmie Durham does not believe that works should be illustrative; a sculpture is, for example, not the illustration of a concept. In Durham’s work, over-interpretation and metaphors are not necessary, and the artist invites the spectator to contemplate his piece as it is, investigating its various (often surprising) components.

In Pallas Athena we can perceive the same working process as in other of Jimmie Durham’s figures, except that this time we encounter a familiar element: a mask used by Jimmie in his Self-Portrait Pretending to Be Maria Thereza Alves as Terminator. It is in fact a cast of the artist’s partner, perhaps allowing us to interpret this awkward figure on a wooden stick as an homage to a personal goddess of wisdom.