Finalisten > Ode Ozlem Siegers
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Ode Ozlem Siegers- Noord-Holland -
ArtemisOlieverf op paneel50 x 70 cm2025€3.700,- |
I have always been drawn to mythology, particularly to ancient female figures and the older matriarchal traditions of feminine power that were transformed, absorbed, or forgotten within the classical Greek world.
Artemis has always stood out to me. Beyond the Greek mythology, in Anatolia, traditions surrounding the great mother goddess Cybele became intertwined with the worship of Ephesian Artemis, where she took on a distinctly maternal and protective character. Centuries later, some of these ancient associations with the feminine and the maternal found new forms in the veneration of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus, within a very different, patriarchal order. I am interested in the older matriarchal power beneath these transformations, and in how an ancient feminine presence can change its name and form while remaining recognisable beneath the surface.
Mara, the sitter, is a powerful young Dutch woman. When I first interviewed her, she was adjusting her shirt. As she lifted her athletic arm, I suddenly saw Artemis, reaching towards her arrows. The entire painting formed in that moment. Artemis embodies opposing forces: hunter and protector, wilderness and nurture, independence and responsibility. She is autonomous, watchful and powerful, and dangerous when her boundaries are crossed.
The main narrative of the painting is her gaze. Mortals weren’t meant to look upon Artemis, yet here we look at her, and she is aware of its gaze. In the myth of Actaeon, the mortal who sees Artemis does not survive the encounter. Here, the painting freezes that forbidden moment: the boundary between mortal and divine has been crossed.
The deer, hunted and protected by Artemis, they run from her in the background, the duality. The bow and arrow, laurel wreath, the overall golden atmosphere and light, the moon and stars complete the constellation of her symbols.
