
This series is based on the book, "Goddesses in Every Woman: A New Psychology of Women" by Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D. In it Dr. Bolen, a Jungian psychoanalyst, describes several female archetypes in terms of seven Greek goddesses. These goddesses embody certain characteristics within every woman's character. At times we may be aware of only a few of these characteristicas in ourselves. Then life's changing circumstances may thrust us into a situation that calls forth archetypal characteristics of which we were previously unaware - circumstances such as giving birth to a first child or being betrayed. Understanding these goddesses helps us to fathom the depth of our own mystery.
Both in form and content, playfulness, humour and irony commingle with the serious messages in these paintings. The woman in these paintings is seriously exploring herself in terms of these archetypes, but at the same time she is dancing with life. She is having fun. And she is asking questions: Can an older woman portray a nymph, an odalesque? Can her youth shine through as in Persephone? What does it feel like to be a betrayed wife, the mother of an abducted daughter, a woman content to live alone? and yet these archetypes are within her. How do they manifest in each of us and dare we acknowledge these diverse aspects within ourselves?
An art critic noted that it takes the portrayal of an older woman, a woman who has come to be at home with her body and it's passage away from youth, in theis role in order to play on the ironies between a woman's "true" worth and the worth that is assigned to her by her culture.
Please note that this collection contains some nudity.
| ©1999-2001 Susanne MacKay |