Deborah
felt tip black ink pen, white ink pen, ink color pencils on paper
This piece follows an earlier work, Anutka's Eyes, and deals with the subject of daughter-hood, and reproduction. This work was completed over the coarse of 2.5 years, starting shortly after the birth of my son, and finishing soon after the birth of my daughter.
"Deborah", which means "bee" in Hebrew, centers around the bees' function as pollinators. They symbolize reproduction, physically, as well as spiritually and ideologically. The flowing honey references the Bilical description of Canaan, as the Land of Milk and Honey. This work interprets it not as a physical place, but the future Promised Land of paradise towards which we strive.
This, also, is a re-imagining of the blood of Christ washing away the original sin off the skull of Adam. Sweet honey is washing away the sin of Eve.
The golden color of honey is reflected in the color of my mixed-race children's skin who, in their beauty, are my personal Promised Land of Milk and Honey. My daughter's purity is washing the worries and pain of my sinful adult life.
This piece follows an earlier work, Anutka's Eyes, and deals with the subject of daughter-hood, and reproduction. This work was completed over the coarse of 2.5 years, starting shortly after the birth of my son, and finishing soon after the birth of my daughter.
"Deborah", which means "bee" in Hebrew, centers around the bees' function as pollinators. They symbolize reproduction, physically, as well as spiritually and ideologically. The flowing honey references the Bilical description of Canaan, as the Land of Milk and Honey. This work interprets it not as a physical place, but the future Promised Land of paradise towards which we strive.
This, also, is a re-imagining of the blood of Christ washing away the original sin off the skull of Adam. Sweet honey is washing away the sin of Eve.
The golden color of honey is reflected in the color of my mixed-race children's skin who, in their beauty, are my personal Promised Land of Milk and Honey. My daughter's purity is washing the worries and pain of my sinful adult life.