Work samples

  • Persephone in the Underworld
    Persephone in the Underworld

    This is part of a series of Greek goddesses and the relevance of their stories to contemporary women and society.  Persephone was a young girl when she was picking flowers with some of her maiden friends.  Hades, the God of the Underworld was obsessed with her beauty.  A chasm opened up in the ground where Persephone was standing and Hades emerged and abducted her against her will.  

  • Artemis in the Forest
    Artemis in the Forest

    Mixed media on canvas. 48”x36” Part of the Greek goddess series. Artemis was the goddess of the forest, wild animals, young girls and the moon. Once when she was bathing in her beloved woods, a hunter glimpsed her naked in a pool and, entranced by her beauty, spied on her.  She discovered him and turned him into a stag, 

  • Thetis
    Thetis

    ‘Thetis’. 48”x36”. Mixed media on canvas.

    I knew I was in trouble as soon as Zeus came sniffing around, the old goat.  I evaded him by relating the prophesy that I was destined to have a son who would vastly eclipse his father in both power and skill. It was a temporary reprieve, for the egos of powerful men and gods are easily threatened.  Zeus seemed to leave me alone after that but it wasn't enough for his superstitious mind.  He 'gave' me to a mortal man, Peleus.  As if I were his to give.  How I struggled to get away from the dullard Peleus.  He chased me home to the sea and, although I hid in a bed of seaweed, ultimately cornered me in a cave.  I shifted, first a lion, then an eagle, finally a serpent.  I writhed and coiled but Peleus finally prevailed. 

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About Rebecca

Baltimore City

The works of Rebecca Waring reflect her love of the earth, even in its decay. Several years ago, she became fascinated with oxidized metals and learned to speed up this natural process using various substances applied to sheet copper. The results are an immersion into ‘seeing’ our earth and what is happening in the era of the Anthropocene, the ugly and the sublime. Her art encourages the viewer to really look, not turn away. With a combination of paint, metal, fiber, paper, plastic and wood… more

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The Women

This series is my reimagining of Greek goddesses as contemporary women and how the stories of the women in these ancient myths are still completely relevant today, over 3000 years after they were written.  Women in ancient Greece struggled with a patriarchal society that has changed little in the arch of history.  The women in these stories had their hearts broken by unfaithful men, they were denied choices, they were forced into marriages against their will, lusted after by men in power, and raped.  The fierceness of these mythical women, as they’ve negotiated their way in a male dominated society and claimed their power despite their society's attempts to rob them of agency, is an archetypal reflection of women’s narratives in Western culture for millennia.  

  • Thetis
    Thetis

    I knew I was in trouble as soon as Zeus came sniffing around, the old goat. I evaded him by relating the prophesy that I was destined to have a son who would vastly eclipse his father in both power and skill. It was a temporary reprieve, for the egos of powerful men and gods are easily threatened. Zeus seemed to leave me alone after that but it wasn't enough for his superstitious mind. He 'gave' me to a mortal man, Peleus. As if I were his to give. How I struggled to get away from the dullard Peleus. He chased me home to the sea and, although I hid in a bed of seaweed, ultimately cornered me in a cave. I shifted, first a lion, then an eagle, finally a serpent. I writhed and coiled but Peleus finally prevailed. 

  • Artemis in the Forest
    Artemis in the Forest

    Artemis was the goddess of the forest, wild animals, young girls and the moon.  She was also the goddess of the hunt. In ancient Greece the hunters were considered the environmentalists.  Artemis could speak to animals in their own language.  She is the daughter of Zeus and she asked her father to grant her wishes:  To remain a virgin goddess, to bring the light of the new moon, to own a bow and quiver of arrows, and to wear a knee-length tunic.  She asked that her companions be only girls, women, and dogs.  
    Once when she was bathing in her beloved woods, a hunter glimpsed her naked in a pool and, entranced by her beauty, spied on her.  She discovered him and turned him into a stag, 

  • Persephone in the Underworld
    Persephone in the Underworld

    Persephone was a young girl when she was picking flowers with some of her maiden friends.  Hades, the God of the Underworld was obsessed with her beauty.  A chasm opened up in the ground where Persephone was standing and Hades emerged and abducted her against her will.  He took her to his underworld kingdom where she had to stay.  No more sunlight, no more flowers.  Her mother, Demeter, was the goddess of the harvest.  Demeter was so distraught at losing her daughter to this monster, that she wandered the world, weeping and freezing all the earth so no crops would grow.  This went on for 4 years until Zeus saw that the mortals were starving.  He sent Hermes, the messenger god, down to the underworld to negotiate with Hades.  An agreement was struck where Persephone was allowed to go to the upper world to be with her mother for 6 months of the year.  Hades gave her a hexed pomegranate seed which made certain she would always return to him.  It's said that this is why we have seasons.  Six months of warmth and sun, and six months of cold and dark while Persephone is underground.  

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