The Oracle Series: Hekat.
“I am Hekate, Protector of all who are shunned and oppressed. Guide and mother to those lost to the fringes and forgotten. I am the wild dog, the bark in the night. I am the serpent, coiled and waiting to strike. I am the Goddess of Magick and night things, the patron of witches, ghosts, the dead and the moon. I hold power over heaven, over sea and earth. I am the crossroads, the inbetween, the path yet to be walked. I am the torch, I am the eye, I am the cupped hand. I am the triple made one. I am the youth, I am the mother, I am the ancient. I am the past, the present, the future. I am Hekate.”
[Greek pantheon, goddess of witchcraft, the underworld and crossroads. Her symbols are the cross keys, the triple moon and the strophalos. She is known as the triple goddess, maiden, mother and crone. This void painting however uses the Egyptian variant of the name, invoking her role as the Mistress of Births.]
(23.12.2020)
Yesterday I finished a painting I’d been working on for a few days. ‘Hekat’. It’s simple, but a lot of work, effort, carefulness and love went into it. It was an experiment, like everything I do is. I approached it differently than I have previous works and although I can see my hand in it, it’s different from anything I’ve done previously… The painting is of Hekate, who is a Greek Goddess but… and… yeah. It’s not all of what I get when I look at the completed work.
I’ve recently been reading, researching shamanism, Native American culture, and I’m seeing the influence of that absorption in the painting. I look at it and the first thing I see is horned cow, horned goddess, riding in with the moon to fuck up your day. She’s power and life and you better bow down. The second thing I see is wisdom, benevolence, she’s coming to open the door, show you the way, offer wisdom, insight, show you the path to higher knowledge. And I didn’t want to write this. For me, one of the points of void paintings is not putting my intention, my thoughts into it so that a potential viewer can see what they need to see in it, or see without me telling them what to see. It’s the idea that art should be able to stand in it’s own. Am I wrong?
(25.01.2021)
Who is ‘Hekat’? She’s the child, the maiden, she’s just entering adulthood, just entering her fullness. She has been given the key by her elders and is ready to enter the mysteries, with all the fiery, bullheadedness of youth.
Every time I look at this painting it reveals more to me. Clothed in raven feathers, clothed in darkness, clothed in night, she emerges from the void as light, both a part of it and in the process of separating herself from it.
Print is now available on Society6, click on image for link.
‘The Murder of Miss O’ is also available on Amazon.
