Description
This is one of the pages that I was given to play with when we were proofing the edition for Venus Unbound, so that I could practice attaching the metal foil add-ons, gouache overlays and the extra rubber stamp treatments that were given to many of the pages of each copy of Venus Unbound.
This page has the bright turquoise metallic blue overlay on the small photo of myself as Psyche. This photo was originally taken by Aline Mare as part of a collaborative project we were working on in San Francisco, circa 1981. You can see the whirlpool in the detail below in which the large figure (seen above) of the woman on the page is standing, arms at her side, hands extended in an offering gesture. The text narrative on this page is an appropriated xerox image of a female Hottentot tribeswoman, taken from a misogynist anthropological text book, widely used in the 19th century. The narrative was taken from a dream and reads as follows:
I am a huge black woman at a large public gathering near the bridge. I recognize that this body is just a different me. I walk slowly out of deep sea. I have arrived.
This page illustrates the archetype of the Great Mother alive in each of us. In our western culture, the Mother is usually depicted as a white woman. However, all through history, as ancient artifacts show us, the Great Mother more often than not, is a person of color, of every color, of every race, showing the common origins we all share.
You can see a detail below of the Psyche foil photo attachment. Read more about my limited edition book Venus Unbound.
Read more about my work in my artist statement, Creating Spiritual Art for the New Millenium and resume.
