The Abomination of Venus
Oil on canvas
24”x36”
A pale, Rubenesque woman poses naked with her feet submerged in a lake. Her left arm stretches across her midsection; her right arm resting on her lower stomach. She has long copper hair that falls down her back and winds around her arms. Her face is missing. It is replaced with bloody gore that exudes blood; it pools on her chest before dripping down towards the water. Two human arms reach towards her to tug locks of her hair. Two human-shaped figures fading into water and air pull at her hair from behind. Pink flowers are scattered in the lake’s water: all of them face-down with their stems pointed to the sky.
“In The Abomination of Venus, I bring together the concepts of classical Rubenesque beauty and contemporary carnal horror to subvert the viewer’s expectations. In the original painting of inspiration, The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, he depicts Zephyr and Chloris bestowing their gifts upon Venus, who is standing upon a clam. On the other side, the Hora (god) of springtime, Thallo, comes to lovingly collect Venus at the end of the lake. In my depiction, Zephyr, Chloris and Thallo are ripping at Venus’ body as she trudges through the lake by foot; the gods are rescinding their gifts from her because they have found Venus abominable and lacking. I have used The Abomination of Venus as a metaphor to reflect on body stigma, particularly as it relates to how swiftly judgements are made about others’ outer appearance before getting to know them personally.”