Technique: oil painting
Size: 707 × 500 mm
Date: 2011
SOLD
Inspiration and history of the painting
Intercourse with Hecate was the second oil painting I completed. It was purchased by my friend who goes by the pseudonym Aeldra Nightwood. The sale was very fast, having taken place some five to ten minutes after the painting was just finished. It happened so around seven in the morning, after an all-night painting session.
Hecate is one of the ancient goddesses who was probably introduced into the Greek pantheon from somewhere in the East. Originally, she was a nurturing deity who cared for mothers, and people prayed to her as a guardian of fertility for safe childbirth. Later, her role expanded to include the complete mystery of the triune female of three faces. She thus became the holy trinity of womanhood, in which she was a tender maiden, a mature woman, and a wise old lady in one. This mythical authority was stolen from her during the violent slaughter and assimilation of the pagans, where the trinity of Hecate was replaced by the Christian holy trinity. As this goddess faced demonization even before the Christian rampage, it wasn’t long before she was attributed a role in the underworld. Here the ancient myths vary by the place and region. Someplace she was regarded as the wife of Hades, elsewhere as the caretaker of Persephone and her mentor, in yet another part she had an uncertain role as one of the few surviving Titans. The only concept that these myths agree upon is that it is her pet Cerberus who guards the entrance to the underworld. With the advent of Christianity, her position got even more demonized and she became to be perceived as the mother of all demons, having been confused with Lilith and declared to be the wife of the devil.
Whether as Hecate or as Lilith, this goddess is the target of vilification by believers who build a patriarchal society where women have a submissive, sometimes even slavish role. What struck me artistically, which is also the reason why I was happy to paint Hecate, is that inadvertently, the said believers also attributed her with feminine free-spiritedness, self-reliance, strength, and cunningness. I’m just sad that the natural fertility of this archetype is not valued enough, and Lilith in particular is often viewed as an easy woman, even a prostitute.
More previews of the work
Intercourse with Hecate in mounting
Two oil paintings, Intercourse with Hecate and Portrait of Regi
Detail of the head
Signature detail
The painting Intercourse with Hecate along with the cover of Horror Avant-garde on display at Dark Velvet café bar
Curious exhibition fact
As soon as I finished this painting, without further ado another friend got in touch with a commission for an abstract portrait of himself. Thus my third oil painting Portrait of Regi appeared. Both these paintings were subsequently displayed at the only painting salon at the DOX gallery in 2012.
Sonnet – Intercourse with Hecate
by Blanche
God is the light protecting your life,
Your hope for saving wasted years,
He spoils thee, keeps thee from grief,
The one, the almighty, the shield of the world.
Noble judgment, perfect deeds,
Pure thoughts that haven’t touched sin,
Directing our destiny without doubt
For He is flawless in His actions!
Like cattle under man’s control,
Like fetus blind inside its mother’s womb,
We’re dull to the eye divine,
Doomed to death if He so wills!
I am to thank Him for His goodness,
To crawl before him for forgiveness
Atoning for the smallest sins,
To die alone in emptiness!
I’d rather piss on God of yours!
Piss on the murderous perv!
I’ve no nice words for him at all,
And he has far too few for me.
editing: Arianne Perrier
web design: Brbla