Mixed-media assemblage
Each of my pieces invite the viewer to form their own story. In this piece, the central figure and several female guards under her command are resting in a garden while tributes are being made to her. The central characters are focused on the female outside of the scene who is approaching with a head in a basket.
One of the things that most excites me about assemblages is how changing the context of an archetypal image can change its significance and even meaning. The lounging nude has a long history of representing erotic imagery in art. In this piece, my aim was to change the Venus from a passive onlooker to a position of dominance. Manet did something similar in Olympia by having the lounging nude turn her face to meet the viewer’s gaze. I chose to manipulate the scale of the lounging nude so that she towers over the other figures in the piece. Additionally, her placement in the center reinforces her leadership.
Armor and weaponry is used to create a story between the disparate figures, mythical creatures provide a note of fantasy, and Grecian columns are used to evoke antiquity. From the moment I saw this Venus, I wanted to set her in a garden you might find in one of Maxfield Parrish’s paintings. The gold and white color palate reinforce the feeling of antiquity, while use of dark and light as well as hints of yellow and red evoke daybreak.
