daphne

Latest re-iteration (is that an oxymoron?) of a Daphne artist statement, to accompany a bunch of Daphne art at the DAA studio sale / show next weekend.

DAPHNE

Many of my drawings depict metamorphosis, and the Greek myth of Daphne and Apollo has been a particularly favorite subject. Sometimes identified as a maiden and sometimes as a wood nymph, Daphne was a skilled huntress who lived in the woods of Arcady. She was pursued by the god Apollo and, to avoid being raped, she turned into a laurel tree. She could not deny the oppression that Apollo presented, but she did not give up the power to make a choice, even in her dire straits. How creative is that--Who would think of turning into a tree? To own the possibility of choice in the face of oppression is to experience freedom -- not freedom from oppression, but freedom despite oppression.

My drawings of Daphne symbolize the possibility of  experiencing freedom from the oppression of our polarizing culture of dominance and submission. She reminds me to see all personal actions as expressions of choice. When drawing, I often depict figures I see in my environment, or 'trace' figures I see emerge from the vagaries of the surface I am drawing on. And so I am reminded also, that what we see is what we choose to see.

Alex Leaver