Goddesses

MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE

Barbie became my muse. I borrowed images from fashion, advertising,

mythology, and religion, giving familiar figures her face.

Sometimes the change is unmistakable. Sometimes it is almost hidden.

AN ENCOUNTER BECOMES AN IMAGE

Traveling through the Midwest, I saw the Land O’Lakes maiden on a gigantic silo, offering a tub of butter.

A friend had given me a small metal figure, found at a flea market in Rome, associated with Hestia, goddess of the hearth.

I gave the maiden Barbie’s face.

And I replaced the butter with a flame.

From butter to the warmth of a hearth.

SACRED FIGURES / UNEXPECTED PLACES

Three familiar images from very different worlds, brought together where none would ordinarily belong.

I placed a Hindu goddess inside a mosque in India and gave her Barbie’s face.

Rosalind joked that someone might issue a fatwa against me for bringing them together.

What happens to their meanings now?

FASHION / DISPLAY / AUTHORITY