152, 2020-01, OOBE (Le Rêve— Temple of Artemis, Song of the Sleeping Forest, Symbol of Life, Love, and Aesthetics), oil on linen, 60 x 90″ (152 x 228cm) (detail, 1, 2)

There is the established term “body art”, but there should also be “out of body art”, as in having an out of body experience (OOBE), with pregnancy as the conceit. Artemis is the goddess of childbirth, and the temple of Artemis is a mother’s body— “the body is a temple”— Michaelangelo’s Creation of Adam in Henri Rousseau’s Le Rêve. Inspired in equal part by William Blake’s Malevolence, this piece is a humble celebration and offering to Artemis, goddess of the hunt and of safe childbirth.

This piece may never be finished, just as none of us are ever truly fully safely borne….