The Handless Maiden is a story of a woman’s journey into the underground forest of the feminine psyche

It is a rite of endurance and growth from a flat and fragmented existence to one of wholeness through the process of the archetypal narrative of finding one’s desire.  To paraphrase Gloria Steinem, the personal is political. Just as society becomes more accepting and indeed embraces and nurtures feminine power, a woman sets off on her own journey of self discovery. Both, indeed, are interconnected and interchangeable. Hence, as a woman works towards wholeness within herself, society also moves in that direction towards first acknowledging and understanding our dualistic nature and then marrying them to achieve oneness. The story of The Handless Maiden is powerful and especially potent at this tumultuous and ever changing climate of the turn of the new century. Now, more than ever, we are aware of the winds of change. To be sure, the political climate is all encompassing, as it documents and shapes our views. This is achieved through our ever pervasive media.

The media of our ancestors were the old stories, or fairy tales. Indeed, fairy tales were often vehicles for covert messages that were forced underground. The fairy tales were communicated in the oral tradition long before the Grimm brothers documented them in written form. Hence, information could be passed down from one generation to another without the fear of persecution.

Visually, I have attempted to create a child-like fairy tale look to the book. I felt, that in order to see as clearly as possible, the reader needed to approach this work with the openness of a child. In effect, I am asking the reader to leave his/her ego at the door, so to speak. Fairy tales have always been vehicles for teaching lessons. They were created for children to teach them morals and are reflections of the cultural scripts of the time that they are written. Children are innocent, and hence, have no preconceived concept of the world and its order. They see truth.

The paintings themselves have both the potency of iconic imagery and the innocence of children’s book illustrations. They are painted in a High Gothic style to reflect the time period. I have taken the style of a miniature illuminated manuscript and enlarged it to 72″ x 72″. All the figures are centred on the canvas. I have painted them this way because they created a mirrored image. I wanted the reader to see him or herself within the journey in order to increase the level of understanding. Also, the imagery is influenced by early Christian iconography, with its central figure, flatness, bold colour and use of Gold, Silver, or Bronze Leaf, in order to emphasize the mirroring of the Divine within all of us.

This project celebrates the duality that makes us human, keeps us balanced, vital, vibrant, and whose union will eventually make us whole.

There are four large and four smaller paintings. The four large paintings coincide with the pivotal moments in the series: the dismemberment, finding love in the garden, the birth, and the sacred marriage. The smaller paintings represent moments that facilitate these experiences.