Step out of Time
April 23-May 18, 2019
When I began my current series of work almost four years ago, I was thinking about women, and their place in society throughout history. This idea kept me focused on the objects and symbols that spoke of the females’ powerful influence, despite the gender-based discrimination that we still see today. I looked at a period of time starting from the 1920s on, and read many articles and books on this topic.
I reread the epic poem The Odyssey, by Homer. I found myself connecting with the goddesses that were involved in the story, and was impressed by their independence and intelligence. This vision of “the goddess”, after thinking about the ideal woman living in our society, was like a revelation; maybe we could have it all! It was empowering both visually and spiritually to know of the females’ strengths and attributes. At one point in my reading, I remember stopping and saying the words out loud “Athena rules”! It made me realize that the Greek goddesses were truly the first feminists.
I was excited to be working on an IDEA, and not just observing reality, because the imagination can create images that are equally strong. The medium that I chose for creating this series was collage. The cutting and layering of the papers felt consistent with the layers of history and interpretation of philosophy and thoughts. The colors I used were representing what was fashionable and symbolic for that particular goddess. Color was also connected to other things like stones and gems that had emotional, royal and spiritual meanings.
The research for the show was interesting historically, but also revealed the themes and differences between loyalty and vengeance, what is “God -like” and what is “mortal” and what is interpreted as power and weakness.
The heroines of Greek mythology make us think about our individual and unique strengths. The gods never thought that they weren’t in complete control (especially Zeus), but the goddesses knew better. They inspired women throughout the centuries with their power and independence, transforming from mortal reality into goddesses.
I reread the epic poem The Odyssey, by Homer. I found myself connecting with the goddesses that were involved in the story, and was impressed by their independence and intelligence. This vision of “the goddess”, after thinking about the ideal woman living in our society, was like a revelation; maybe we could have it all! It was empowering both visually and spiritually to know of the females’ strengths and attributes. At one point in my reading, I remember stopping and saying the words out loud “Athena rules”! It made me realize that the Greek goddesses were truly the first feminists.
I was excited to be working on an IDEA, and not just observing reality, because the imagination can create images that are equally strong. The medium that I chose for creating this series was collage. The cutting and layering of the papers felt consistent with the layers of history and interpretation of philosophy and thoughts. The colors I used were representing what was fashionable and symbolic for that particular goddess. Color was also connected to other things like stones and gems that had emotional, royal and spiritual meanings.
The research for the show was interesting historically, but also revealed the themes and differences between loyalty and vengeance, what is “God -like” and what is “mortal” and what is interpreted as power and weakness.
The heroines of Greek mythology make us think about our individual and unique strengths. The gods never thought that they weren’t in complete control (especially Zeus), but the goddesses knew better. They inspired women throughout the centuries with their power and independence, transforming from mortal reality into goddesses.
