between our lives and these ancient myths and stories intellectually, I found, because they were not set in contemporary times, that I did not relate to them personally.
A few years ago, during a period when I was struggling with my art, I recalled the myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus was cursed with the task of rolling the same immense boulder up a hill– which then rolled back down–for all eternity. Inspired by this metaphor of struggle and stuckness and how it beautifully reflected what I was going through at the time, I created Journey to the Next Day, a collage depicting a modern day “Sisyphus” dressed in a suit and pushing a ball uphill. The piece was extremely well received. I realized then that contemporizing this mythical story gave people a personal portal into the myth, so that they, too were able to resonate with the tale in a way they might not have before. This was the start of my “Myth” series.
Jacob’s Ladder
In the Book of Genesis it is written “And he Dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.” It is an image and a metaphor that has been interpreted in various ways, including by Jungian psychologist Marie Louse Von Franz, who wrote, “In all cases the ladder symbolized a continuous, constant connection with the divine powers of the unconscious. We could say the dream itself was such a ladder. It connects us with the unknown depth of our psyche. Every dream is a rung on a ladder, so to speak.” (The Way of the Dream)
I had only planned to do one version of Jacob’s Ladder, but apparently my unconscious was excited about the idea, so I created three: one that is graphic, one that is abstract, and one that is contemporary.