My Higher Self/Soul Self
A piece I envisioned at least 10 years before I finally began it in December of 2015, and at last completed in December of 2020.
My Higher Self/Soul Self. 91" x 76"
(Initial title was Self-Portrait as High Priestess.)
Mixed media piece. Acrylic and fabric.
(Initial title was Self-Portrait as High Priestess.)
Mixed media piece. Acrylic and fabric.
I envisioned a self-portrait as a high priestess. I wanted to commemorate all the healing I had done and communicate the light and joy that have come to fill my life. Finally, in December of 2015, I carved out time to begin working on it.
Like my piece Spirit Tree, I “painted with fabric.” But for this, I used actual paint for her face and hands, even though it had been years since I had painted realistically.
I finally finished her in December of 2020. Five years.
She went through a series of names. First, Self-Portrait as High Priestess. Then, when I purchased the cream silk for the light around her, the woman at the fabric store told me this was wedding dress silk! Her second name became I Am the Bride of My Own Life.
Then, as I continued to work on her, and as she more and more became alive and I began to communicate with her as if a guide, I realized she was an incarnation of My Higher Self and then even My Soul Self.
Like my piece Spirit Tree, I “painted with fabric.” But for this, I used actual paint for her face and hands, even though it had been years since I had painted realistically.
I finally finished her in December of 2020. Five years.
She went through a series of names. First, Self-Portrait as High Priestess. Then, when I purchased the cream silk for the light around her, the woman at the fabric store told me this was wedding dress silk! Her second name became I Am the Bride of My Own Life.
Then, as I continued to work on her, and as she more and more became alive and I began to communicate with her as if a guide, I realized she was an incarnation of My Higher Self and then even My Soul Self.
My Higher Self/Soul Self is also a memory piece. There are so many elements of her that are records of important people in my life. For instance, the "kimono" top was created from leftover fabric from a Halloween costume I made for my daughter.
Click on any image to enlarge.
Her hair is made out of various skeins of twisted metal strands—gold, silver, bronze. First, I carefully untwisted each skein in order to remove the severe curl. My studio was strung across its 40' length with these lines of glimmering metal thread.
The butterflies on her right shoulder and on the detail below are for transformation, a symbol for the incredible healing and transformation that has taken place in my life.
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She wears a birch bark earring on her right side, embellished with mourning dove feathers for New Life. In her left ear is an earring that my amazing soul sister Barbara Storm gave to me before she died in 2000.
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"My Higher Self/Soul Self" stands in a circle of LIGHT amidst the darkness. When I bought the cream silk for the LIGHT, the woman behind the counter told me it was wedding dress silk! Immediately, I added a second name to her besides "Self-Portrait as High Priestess," the name she began with. She became also "I Am the Bride of My Own Life."
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For the sparkly line across the high waist, I removed one sequin at a time from an old dress of my mother's. Then I sewed them at her waist, again, one at a time. This is so precious for me. The bracelet began as a necklace my son beaded for my stuffed bear when he was five while I worked on a piece in my studio.
I will add more images of this piece as I have time. She is still on the wall of my studio where I visit her every week to listen to her wisdom. |
Underneath it all, under her skirt, almost impossible to get to but not quite, is this triangle that I created as a symbol for her womanhood.
I think I like it even more because it is not seen, it is a secret, a mystery that few know is there.
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