Christine Hajjar
August 19, 2020
Thesis Series, “Eye Witnesses,” Goddess Inspired Archetypal Hybrids, Sheroes with Shields That See
As a Lebanese American, my first exposure to large scale paintings was in my Orthodox Church. The icons, incense, and chanting in Arabic fed my senses. Later, I cultivated a more critical view of this spirituality, and became interested in Indigenous or Pagan spiritualities centering female deities or archetypes. I learned that Christ’s descent into hell had been modeled after earlier stories like that of the ancient Mesopotamian goddess Innana descending into the underworld to meet her shadow sister Ereshkigal, or the Greek Persephone, descending into the underworld as partner to Hades, and then rising again to be with her mother, Demeter, creating Spring. I learned the image of Mary holding the baby Jesus, for example, came after that of the Egyptian Isis cradling the baby Horus. These stories and images, weather divinely inspired or created by humans, the power of which is evidenced by their constant reproduction throughout time, interests me, as well as the stories being coopted by more recent Patriarchal religions. I am interested in how some of the characters and practices in Pagan religions, for example, the Horned God Pan, have been demonized by Father God religions, while others like the Yule log and Christmas tree, have been coopted.
The subject of my current sculpture practice is Goddess inspired archetypal hybrids, sheroes with shields that see, which in some cases can be worn on the body, and through collaboration have reached into genres including sound, film, installation, and performance.
My connection to the goddess archetype has been meaningful to me, so my work is to resurrect these archetypes in a new way, to be experienced by a contemporary audience. At a time in history when the patriarchal urge to dominate and colonize may point to the ruin of our beautiful blue planet and humanity’s long cultural heritage, I feel an urgency. The “Sacred Feminine,” which my work aims to embody, is presented as an earth-aligned, environmentally conscious alternative to ideas from the Father God lineage which include dominion over and the ruling of the natural world and certain populations when taken to their extremes.
The hybrids I viscerally create emerge as an amalgamation of my research in the form of a figure and her shield. In each case, the shield is made of a domestic item associated with the endless gracious giving and yielding expected from the feminine in the home. Some are created out of table tops over which people may discuss matters and come to agreements.Instead of providing support, the tables are suspended upright, awake, aware, a witness +seeing shield in service to it’s figure companion. In other cases the shields are created out of a baskets or trays that could have been used to offer a meal. Instead of giving, the basket has turned it’s back on us and become upright, awake, aware, a witness and seeing shield in service to it’s figure. In featuring a large eyes, the (male) gaze is reversed, asking for accountability. The female figure in each case could be considered a spiritual embodiment of an Earth landscape no longer willing to, “give,” natural resources.
The story of the Goddess’ erasure through colonization referenced by the figures in my work act as a reminder of what has been lost. Centralizing the feminine in my work offers a balance to the current cultural and political state of the world today.
I am also blessed to be studying during this pivotal moment amongst contemporary artists who have enriched and informed my own practice, inspiring interlocutors who pave the way. I honor the artist Nick Cave, who’s body protective wearable work called Soundsuites hide gender, race, and class. His were created in response to the Rodney King beatings, a hate crime based on race, just as mine were a reaction as well to a hate crime based on race. I gain inspiration also from filmmaker Shirin Neshat, sculptor and performance artist Nandipha Mntambo, multimedia artist Kara Walker, and Indigenous artist and activist Cannupa Hanska Luger. The use of primarily recycled materials is a conscious restriction I abide by so that my art making practice is in integrity with protecting the earth following the lead of: contemporary artists, Vic Muniz and El Anatsui. Spiritually an intellectually, I have looked to theorists of mind and myth from the past like Carl Jung, and Joseph Campbel, as well as those of today, like Aepril Schaile and Alisa Starkweather.
My search for the Goddess is a search into my Lebanese heritage: its’ own specific past, up to Biblical times. The Goddess flourished, in the areas known today as Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Sinai, Libya, Syria, Iran, Iraq, India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Greece, Italy in Neolithic and Paleolithic times, as evidenced by many the numerous tiny female figure sculptures found by archeologists.
And so, throughout this process of creation, I have collaborated with fellow artists to create site specific installations, and also to embody archetypal narratives through wearing the work, experimenting with performance. There is a form of therapy called shadow work where one robes in a certain color to embody a certain archetype and reenacts chosen narratives to heal oneself. These reenactments are based on the same idea. I hope to share the opportunity with more people from my community who might find that interesting, as well as those who study the goddess in mystery schools like mine. I would like to offer further scholarship in these contexts acknowledging colonization as the destroyer of the goddess, and fostering intercultural understanding through accountability. Additionally I can imagine the works as part of a distanced exhibit where one follows a wooded path through the forest to be met by different goddess archetypes. I would like to share also in intersectional feminist circles, enacting narratives which could include for instance, meeting our shadow selves. And perhaps there will be a fairy tale version to keep our little one’s eyes lit up. Finally I hope to be enveloped by and contribute deeply to the community of contemporary artists, as I offer the best I’ve got.
Hajjar, Underworld Totem with Fish Eye Shield, 2020, upcycled metals, glass, plastics, and textiles, 80”x42”x11” and Hajjar, Alchemedes with Mirror Eye Shield, 2020, upcycled metals, glass, plastics, and textiles, 76”x58”x32”