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The old art collections were abundant with mythological motifs. Being a component of a greater whole, the representations of a naked body found there were devoid of vulgarity. The allegorical scenes invoked commonly known stories, updated each time with the changing context.

 

In my project, I reach for two mythical female characters to assign new meanings to them in times of strong tensions. One of them is the Greek mother of monsters, the Babylonian goddess named Tiamat, who goes in our culture by the name Lilith, the Biblical Adam’s wife, who was cast away from the paradise for her disobedience. The other one, referring to the Greek mythology, presents a woman in the form of a sphinx: a lioness guarding Thebes, whose defeat by Oedipus symbolically established the removal of the female forces from power in favour of the patriarchal rule.

 

I put them on guard of a collection of art, the cultural heritage, as guardians of women’s rights and a testimony to their uncompromising power of will and mind. I use the representations dating back to the beginning of our civilisation, where a woman does not mean weakness.

 

Helena Stiasny – born in 1997 in Warsaw, a graduate from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Participant of numerous exhibitions in Poland and abroad. Awarded with the VeniceLands ArtPrize (Italy, 2019). Under the alias Ala Bankroft, the author of illustrations to the book titled “Widziałem pięknego dzięcioła” [I have seen a beautiful woodpecker], which has been granted multiple awards. In her painting, she discusses the issue of the female body and its subjectivity.