KIMBERLY BERG WWW.ISISRISING.NET
“Birthing Moon” Pastel, 19”x26”
“I
believe that artists have an important role to play in changing the patriarchal world we live in. It is becoming increasingly clear that the present patriarchal military, social, political, religious, and economic institutions we live under are no longer workable or sustainable. This is especially true for women who have lived under a patriarchal system created and governed by men for the last 5000 years. This time period also marks the beginning of another important event—the dawn of written language and recorded history in 3100 BC. The confluence of these two events has affected the course of human history to the present time. As a male pro-feminist artist, I believe we are living at a significant turning point in human history. A monumental change is happening in regard to the status of women in Western and other societies worldwide. After millenniums of nearly universal patriarchal subjugation, many women now have the chance to visualize themselves in totally new ways and reclaim their inherent birthright. I believe the artist can play an important role in furthering this historical transformation. This is because the artist has the unique ability to create a visual image that can inspire viewers to reinvent themselves. The seeds for this transformation are planted when the artist
68 | FALL 2021
creates images that challenge women to examine their self-identity, an identity that is not influenced by patriarchal definitions of what a woman is or should be. One way to get beyond such definitions is for women to become aware of who they were in pre-historic times: before the invention of written language and before such definitions and restrictions were invented by a male ruling class and codified into written laws. It is now known from an abundance of modern archeological evidence that men and women in pre-patriarchal, Neolithic societies lived in a social system that highly revered women. My paintings are created to restore that kind of respect amongst men and a feeling of self-worth amongst women. To achieve such a balance, my art tries to restore that part of the pre-historic Mother Goddess culture that honored women for their sacred, life-giving, life-affirming powers: Powers associated with the moon and wild animals; qualities associated with art and aesthetics, dance and music, singing, chanting and ecstatic states of being. I think one way this can be accomplished is to provide a visual connection to woman's primal roots: her ancient relationship
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