Ancient Egyptian Isis is the goddess of magic, motherhood, healing, divine feminine

Ancient Egyptian goddess Sekhmet was the goddess of war, protection, feminine rage, and a military force that could wipe out all of humanity if angered. In her more relaxed form she was known as Bast, the goddess of cats and a joyful figure. Her existence is a reminder there is no light without darkness and no balance comes without sacrifice.

 

Artemis and Apollo were both known as hunters, but represented the moon and sun when depicted together. Artemis was known to be a protector of children women and often associated with helping women in childbirth as she helped deliver her brother Apollo into the world when their mother, Leto, was being hunted by the vengeful goddess Hera. Eventually Leto gave birth to them both on an island as Hera forbade her from safety on land. This is partially what prompted  Artemis’s first wish to her father Zeus when she asked him to grant her freedom to hunt in the woods forever with her hounds, to never marry or have children, and to be a protector of those in need of it most. Her brother Apollo was known as the chariot that brought the sun in every morning and a joyful god who enjoyed music, performance, and concerts. Apollo and Artemis are known for being mischievous when working together and occasionally play tricks on each other as siblings often do.

Aphrodite is one of the most well known Greek goddesses as she was the goddess of love, sensuality, and the divine feminine

Mermaids are some of the oldest myths in folklore

This is a continuation of the themes I explored in my first collage which was how do I view myself as a performer and a person. This year I began booking more shows professionally as a foot archery contortionist which includes a lot of themes of worshipping the divine feminine. I was drawn to the goddess Aphrodite for the first assemblage, collage and installation because my first experience performing was for a small burlesque, circus variety company Cult of Art. Cult of Art created a show called Aphrodisia, which was cultivated to be an elaborate ritual honoring the goddess Aphrodite. My costume theme was meant to invoke the birth of Venus, as I was in a full unitard mint, blue colored bodysuit covered in shells, mermaids scales, and bejeweled accents. This experience was incredibly healing and made me realize there is true power in being comfortable in your own skin.
I was interested in creating an assemblage with a mixture of natural material such as real shells and man made objects I had used in this ritual. I’m not going to go in the direction of just a literal altar however, to tie in all three projects I want this to be a bit more unique and focus on fabric manipulation and work with creating a collage on costume.
I want to transform the dress and bare fabric, so the dress can be worn on stage but the bare fabric will be the form meant for a gallery and the dress is meant to be more personal.

Inspirations for project two began as I reflected on my nomadic way of life.

As a circus performer who has worked professionally in the industry for over four years, I’ve learned a lot about what it means to live on the road. And it’s definitely not as glamorous as you might imagine being in stage would be. The thing about most circuses is they’re located in the middle of nowhere. That means for two to six months, maybe even a year or two years, you don’t have a home. The home is the tent. The home is the forest, the lake, or the sea in the distance. The home is nothing that you can prepare yourself for properly until you’re on your own.

But in a way, my nomadic experiences have also been the most beautiful parts of my life. Learning to rely on myself to survive in the wilderness made me realize I was a lot stronger than I thought I was.

My choice  to make the minis was to reflect on the idea that your life must fit in a suitcase as a nomad, you must forsake most material possessions or luxuries, in order to make it feasible as a solo traveler. I learned that once I spent a week without Internet that a lot of digital communication is what gave me a sense of internal safety. Without the constant chatter of the world around me to distract from my own thoughts, I was able to completely teach myself foot archery over the course of three and a half years.

There are some days I miss the wild, and I hope I will go back eventually. But until then I’ve traded in my sparkles and glitter for a cap and gown, wanting to give myself balance between both sides of my life.

And after graduation who knows, I’m off to the next adventure!

 

Major inspirations for the collage were the sea and its relationship to the moon, tides, and femininity

Context: Tarot and the following of lunar cycles are common practices in witchcraft and carry occult symbolism relating to Egyptian legends. They have varying uses across multiple cultures with different styles of the deck for divination among other personal uses. It can be used for spiritual practice as a tool for communication with the self beyond what we think we know to access ancestral knowledge and wisdom.

Concept: Exploring the ideas of dimensional projection onto a visual 2D plane using sound visualization techniques, fibers, and geometric representations of a small group of Major Arcana Tarot Cards related to the cosmos. Thinking about how we communicate with other dimensions, even ones that aren’t tangible, and how 2D objects still exist within a 3D space.

Content: a handmade “card” representing “The Moon” and a short video showing the audio visualization techniques I’ve been playing with using lasers and light. 🙂

The Inspiration – The Trash Bag – The Aesthetics

Can I make this… but functional??

** The Concept **

To create a series of high fashion accessories that hijack disposable forms — to elevate disposable products to a more functional and desirable level.

 

– The Blueprint <3

How does this reflect back on the fast fashion industry? How does this comment on garbage and disposability within our culture?

The Work So Far!

Context: Preformative activism in a modern setting

Concept: Calling attention to hypocrisy and missteps we have taken with activism in the modern age as it has become a trendy through themes hyper commercialization (akin to the toy product ads from the 80s).

The figure is still being made/painted and there will be an added video advertisement that has not been filmed yet but will be done this weekend.

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Indigenous peoples across Palestine are regularly ordered by the Israeli government to demolish their own homes or face unpayable fines and imprisonment. Many pictures can be found of families standing in front of what was once a house they or their parents likely built. For my project I collected these images and drew these homes back into them as if they were never forced to be destroyed and highlight the unjust reasoning used by Israel to force these actions.

This will be the first of four images, each one using a different color of the Palestinian flag to draw in the destroyed home. I am still deciding how I want to use text to illustrate the type of laws Israel uses to enforce these acts.