Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Mixed Media Collages Utilize Recycled Wood Cutting Boards










The Bird Women are a mixed media series I've been working on since 2007. I love to read books about cultural history. I'm the nerdy one who reads all of the references at the back to find out what I want to read next. This is how I first came across Riane Eisler's book, The Chalice and the Blade. This book was like mana for me. It spoke to me, expressing many of my feelings and clarifying historical truths about what it means to be a woman.

From The Chalice and the Blade, I discovered another remarkable woman, Marija Gimbutas, an archeologist born in Lithuania and educated in Germany. She emigrated to the U.S. In 1949 and taught first at Harvard, then at UCLA. Her books, The Language of the Goddess and The Civilization of the Goddess are fascinating accounts of prehistoric Old Europe, outlining societies that were both matriarchal and egalitarian. Much of the archetypal symbols found in these books have made their way into my goddess collage art.

In addition to reading, I'm also a huge fan of a beautiful cutting board. Bamboo is my favorite material, but I'm also instantly hooked by cutting boards that mix dark and light woods. Mmmm - makes the food taste better when it's chopped on a beautiful board by an appreciative cook.


So where does a cutting board go when its utilitarian life comes to an end? I hope it's coming to me to be recycled! I loved the concept from Daniel Quinn's Ishmael books that humanity's big troubles began with the locking up and control of the food by a few.

As for the goddess worshiping cultures, with their nurturing, life sustaining and honoring ways....their time was clearly the time before the food was locked up. So, what better background to use as the foundation for representing this time in history than a well-used cutting board?


As happens with art, these Bird Women collages have taken on a life of their own. They seem to have a story to tell. The story is told in short snippets and alluring phrases that hopefully cause the observer to either say 'amen!' or 'I never thought about it that way before'. I've attempted to restore something of the sacredness and reverence for life that these early cultures embodied, while highlighting the importance of storytelling to ancient and modern cultures all over the planet.

I'm not overly focused on selling the collages at the moment, but there are 10 listed in my bird women etsy store, if you'd like to see them. I'm also listing a few art prints of the original pen, ink and watercolor drawings and prints of the Bird Woman Coloring Book. Enjoy!

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