In recreating portraits from antiquity of St. Agatha, Hermaphroditus, and Judith, I sought to reinterpret the narratives of these women as my own-- drawing parallels, changing strictures, and embellishing in accordance with truths I found I shared with the likes of women misunderstood and misrepresented.
Their stories are mine and mine theirs.
St. Agatha of Catania ( born c. 231 AD) was forced into prostitution for spurning Roman prefect Quintianus’ advances, stretched on a rack to be torn with iron hooks, burned with torches, and whipped. She had her breasts torturously ripped from her body with tongs. Although miraculously healed by St. Peter, she was sentenced to burning yet prayed that God collect her soul in her prison cell, and died within the hour.
In this portrait I hold my silicone breast implants on a brass tray.
The Greek goddess Hermaphroditus was the child of Hermes and Aphrodite who was born male and was transmuted into a deity whom possessed qualities of both sexes. In an ancient fresco unearthed in Pompeii, Hermaphroditus can be seen lying alone in a meadow and discovered by Pan, the god of the wild. He initially notices her elegant beauty and decides to approach her but quickly discovers her anatomy is different. Turning in disgust, he shields his eyes from her beauty and runs away.
In this portrait he stays, enticed.
Judith was a widow who overcame adversity through her mastery of the art of seduction. Holofernes, an Assyrian general, had plans to seize and destroy a small village called Bethulia, Judith’s home. Judith covertly entered the general’s camp feigning a wish to forge an alliance. Holofernes was struck by her beauty and drunkenly beckoned her to his tent. Dressed in finery and jewels, she used her feminine prowess to seduce him. It was at the climax of her clandestine plan that she severed his head with a scimitar.
In this portrait I hold the head of a man, a pile of coins atop my lap.