'lilith's room ...' at the Anderson Gallery/ Bridgewater State University August 19 - October 25, 2021

'lilith's room ...'
Anderson Gallery/ Bridgewater State University
August 19 - October 25, 2021 

Art Center and Gallery
Open to the Public 
Monday thru Friday, 9am-4pm. 
Closed Holidays 
Handicap Accessible 
tel.508.531.2510 

40 School Street
Bridgewater, MA 02325
email: Anderson Gallery

It is hard to capture the experience of an installation via photography or even with video, but for those who can't make it to Bridgewater I have created this blog page as an attempt to share 'lilith's room ...'

‘lilith’s room …’

‘lilith’s room …’ is a melding of the image of Lilith, the first Eve, and Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of one’s Own,” (Harcourt, Inc. @1929) with a sprinkling of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.”  The installation centers around my sculpture, ‘lilith …’ (2012), in which two of my oeuvres, my ‘dressproject …’ and my intuitive line painting, were employed. When painting in this style I do not plan, I just follow my intuition. Once I had completed the plaster dress sculpture, I recognized that the piece was my interpretation of Lilith, the first Eve. 

 

Lilith’s story can be traced back to Jewish folklore and is cause of some debate.  Much of what is written about Lilith depicts her as a demon, however much of those depictions were authored by men.  It is also important to point out that is quite common for women who are assertive, powerful and independent to be portrayed as demons or witches, be them of myth or of reality.  

The Lilith that I reference and rejoice in is the powerful, independent and free-thinking woman, the first woman of creation, the woman before Eve. In this interpretation of Lilith’s story, she was made exactly as Adam was made - from pure dust, making them equals. As an equal, Lilith voiced her opinions and thoughts and would not accept Adam’s belief that he was her ‘master.’ After much struggle and disagreement Lilith decided to leave the Garden of Eden rather than accepting Adam’s assumed dominance. After Lilith left, Adam appealed to God to create him another mate, and so Eve came to fruition.

My sculpture ‘lilith …’ celebrates the independent, assertive Lilith, as it is covered with images alluding to life, birth, creation and sexuality. The piece depicts a paradise, a lush garden where one is free to express themselves and to explore, investigate, wonder and grow. So it was a natural evolution for the energies and ideas of ‘lilith …’ to expand into a room.  

When I was presented with the opportunity to paint on the walls of the Wallace Anderson Gallery I knew that the time for ‘lilith’s room …’ had come.  And as the concept of the installation, a room, came together, I found it called to mind Virginia Woolf’s esteemed work, “A Room of One’s Own.” Based on lectures that Woolf delivered to two women's colleges at Cambridge University in the fall of 1928, she suggests that if one was not curbed by the worry about money, and had a place where they could be alone and unbothered, what one could create and discover would be astounding. 

When I envisioned this installation I wanted to expand and expound on the fertile imagery of ‘lilith …’ and capture the idea of a room brimming with unimaginable creativity and endless inspiration, a safe sanctuary for self exploration and discovery.  The aesthetic of the installation is inspired by works of Nikki st de Phalle, Zehra Khan, Kiki Smith and the performance piece, Punchdrunk’s ‘Sleep No More’, along with others.

Among the line painting on the walls and furniture, one can find a myriad of imagery, such as flora and fauna, and jaws and claws. Within the room and amidst the furniture, bizarre tableaux and random objects can be found. All these elements of mystery, intrigue, escape and fantasy are to help one’s mind to take off into places unknown and unexplored. ‘lilith’s room …’ is an invitation to delve into what would your nirvana be and what would you create if given your own time and space?

photo by krismariephotography.com

tiktok from krismariephotography.com

I will add more to this page as I can.

 AND I will announce all events that will be happening with my exhibit.

There is definitely going to be a closing on the weekend of October 23rd - but more details to follow.

Please leave any comments or thoughts below as

 I would love to here what you think of 'lilith's room ...'