The Ophelias
“Since 2009, I have explored the archetype of Ophelia, or "drowning woman," as a symbol of birth, death, and survival. Through these images, my feelings of otherness, depression, and alienation become offset by glimpses of beauty and reckoning.
Both Shakespeare's Ophelia and women consumed by water were prominent themes in artworks of the 19th century, particularly in the paintings of the Pre-raphaelites. While I have always been drawn to the beauty of those pantings, Victorian iconography of women in various states of drowning was shaped by patriarchal ideology to some degree, with the bulk of these artistic representations informed by the male gaze.
For me, the imagery of the submerged woman is rife with symbolism for both womb and tomb, but she is also a demanding ghost who shape-shifts in different and sometimes contrasting emotional landscapes. Sometimes, she is simply the face of depression and the struggle to avoid being consumed by it. Other times, she is a force of strength and survival that parallels archetypes of Medusa, the siren, and the witch. Depending on the perspective of the viewer, she may be sinking or rising, dying or being born. Sometimes, I perceive the images as Yemaya, or the ocean mother. The myriad metaphors in her symbolism are why she has remained prominent in my body of work for many years.”
