Ariadne (Assemblage)
DESCRIPTION
Size: 48” x 48”
Materials: Giclee Print with Carved Glass Frame.
Abandoned by her lover on the shores of a remote Aegean island, Ariadne transforms into a tree, with thread in hand and constellations in her hair, as a storm rages around her. The artist knew nothing of Greek Mythology when she created this stunning work in airbrushed liquid graphite on glass. Her hand and her imagination were guided. Upon completion, the artist stepped back, looked at her creation, unlike anything she had done before, and exclaimed “Who IS this?” She is Ariadne.
While the original creation was tragically destroyed during a moving accident in 2020, Ariadne lives on in reproductions and assemblages like the one pictured here.
THE MYTH OF ARIADNE
We have seen in the story of Theseus how Ariadne, the youngest daughter of King Minos, after helping Theseus to escape from the labyrinth, with the clever use of a spool of thread, was carried by him to the island of Naxos and was left there asleep, while the ungrateful Theseus pursued his way home without her. Ariadne, on waking and finding herself deserted, abandoned herself to grief. But Venus took pity on her, and consoled her with the promise that she should have an immortal lover, instead of the mortal one she had lost.
The island where Ariadne was left was the favorite island of Bacchus. As Ariadne sat lamenting her fate, Bacchus found her, consoled her, and made her his wife. As a marriage present he gave her a golden crown, enriched with gems, and when she died, he took her crown and threw it up into the sky. As it mounted the gems grew brighter and were turned into stars, and preserving its form Ariadne’s crown remains fixed in the heavens as a constellation.
Ariadne (Assemblage)
DESCRIPTION
Size: 48” x 48”
Materials: Giclee Print with Carved Glass Frame.
Abandoned by her lover on the shores of a remote Aegean island, Ariadne transforms into a tree, with thread in hand and constellations in her hair, as a storm rages around her. The artist knew nothing of Greek Mythology when she created this stunning work in airbrushed liquid graphite on glass. Her hand and her imagination were guided. Upon completion, the artist stepped back, looked at her creation, unlike anything she had done before, and exclaimed “Who IS this?” She is Ariadne.
While the original creation was tragically destroyed during a moving accident in 2020, Ariadne lives on in reproductions and assemblages like the one pictured here.
THE MYTH OF ARIADNE
We have seen in the story of Theseus how Ariadne, the youngest daughter of King Minos, after helping Theseus to escape from the labyrinth, with the clever use of a spool of thread, was carried by him to the island of Naxos and was left there asleep, while the ungrateful Theseus pursued his way home without her. Ariadne, on waking and finding herself deserted, abandoned herself to grief. But Venus took pity on her, and consoled her with the promise that she should have an immortal lover, instead of the mortal one she had lost.
The island where Ariadne was left was the favorite island of Bacchus. As Ariadne sat lamenting her fate, Bacchus found her, consoled her, and made her his wife. As a marriage present he gave her a golden crown, enriched with gems, and when she died, he took her crown and threw it up into the sky. As it mounted the gems grew brighter and were turned into stars, and preserving its form Ariadne’s crown remains fixed in the heavens as a constellation.
