Demeter & Persephone

Comment

Comment by Maya Just Maya on January 15, 2017 at 12:14pm

Thank you so much for your insightful and eloquent review!

Comment by Maya Just Maya on January 15, 2017 at 12:14pm

Comment by Resident Curator on August 9, 2016 at 8:34pm

Curator’s Comments:

 

The mythic grief of Demeter and Persephone is elegantly captured in this beautiful rendition, mixing flesh and flowers and seed.  I see the turned angle of the mother’s head into what appears to be a split pomegranate as both sensual and somber.  The small red compartments of the fruit become focal elements, and support interpretations of propagation and natural design or destiny.  I also enjoy how the white flower petals in the bottom right curl back up, directing the viewer from the full portrait in the lower half of the piece.  The top figure’s hands also cradle the entire figuration, encapsulating the forms in symbolic harmony, while her nipple points down to her child, fulfilling the symbolic biological link between them.