Flight has always represented freedom from the physical restrictions of earthbound life and the ascent of the soul, this ascent is achieved through the belief of mystical experiences trances and ritual dancing. Birds also assume this journey in the role as messenger from spirit realms, and the flight of the soul from the grave. Women were being borne aloft by birds by winged maidens and enfolded women soaring birds symbolically initiating the journey of the Goddess or Shaman's ascent of the soul flight between earth and sky realms by winged and masked bird like beings. Local ceramic artist Faye Withers describes herself as a tribal artist in search of a tribe, as someone who makes ritual objects in search of rituals. Her clay images reflect a keen sense of archeology, myth and folklore. The clay surfaces of the procession of bird masked goddess have been treated in many subtle ways of colouration in layers of slips, pigments, glazes and acrylics. Withers’ sculpture addresses some of the most obviously ambiguous art forms found from Old European artisans’ images of anthropomorphic figurines that are neither human nor animal. Hybrid images, perhaps half women and half bird, that lack naturalistic detail, were conceived as explanatory images to induce an ordered experience of life and nature itself, assuring the continuing cycles of birth, life, death and rebirth. For these artists there were goddesses to please and appease.
Mythology abounds with stories of creation with the celestial bird and the cosmic egg. The Bird goddess portrays not only the spirit of life but also the human soul after death and as a symbol of rebirth and regeneration, for birds are born twice, as an egg first and again as a chick, and thus offer a new life in the cyclical transformation of nature. The belief is still relevant today in the ritual celebration of Easter with decorated eggs, being the sign of rebirth. Rituals play a role in all societies, religions, cults, past and present. Withers states that the belief remains today that nature and the will of the goddess/god can be influenced by symbols and rituals in the continuous cycle of marriage, baptism, initiation and death. There is a need within the human psyche to communicate with the forces that control our lives through ritual ceremonies. These sculptures rich in symbolic meaning and mystery hint at the complex web of powerful impressions that influence us. Perhaps we, as viewers, can imagine the ritual to which these images belong, or perhaps we can perceive the absence of ritual and tribe in our lives.
Flight has always represented freedom from the physical restrictions of earthbound life and the ascent of the soul, this ascent is achieved through the belief of mystical experiences trances and ritual dancing. Birds also assume this journey in the role as messenger from spirit realms, and the flight of the soul from the grave. Women were being borne aloft by birds by winged maidens and enfolded women soaring birds symbolically initiating the journey of the Goddess or Shaman's ascent of the soul flight between earth and sky realms by winged and masked bird like beings. Local ceramic artist Faye Withers describes herself as a tribal artist in search of a tribe, as someone who makes ritual objects in search of rituals. Her clay images reflect a keen sense of archeology, myth and folklore. The clay surfaces of the procession of bird masked goddess have been treated in many subtle ways of colouration in layers of slips, pigments, glazes and acrylics. Withers’ sculpture addresses some of the most obviously ambiguous art forms found from Old European artisans’ images of anthropomorphic figurines that are neither human nor animal. Hybrid images, perhaps half women and half bird, that lack naturalistic detail, were conceived as explanatory images to induce an ordered experience of life and nature itself, assuring the continuing cycles of birth, life, death and rebirth. For these artists there were goddesses to please and appease.
Mythology abounds with stories of creation with the celestial bird and the cosmic egg. The Bird goddess portrays not only the spirit of life but also the human soul after death and as a symbol of rebirth and regeneration, for birds are born twice, as an egg first and again as a chick, and thus offer a new life in the cyclical transformation of nature. The belief is still relevant today in the ritual celebration of Easter with decorated eggs, being the sign of rebirth. Rituals play a role in all societies, religions, cults, past and present. Withers states that the belief remains today that nature and the will of the goddess/god can be influenced by symbols and rituals in the continuous cycle of marriage, baptism, initiation and death. There is a need within the human psyche to communicate with the forces that control our lives through ritual ceremonies. These sculptures rich in symbolic meaning and mystery hint at the complex web of powerful impressions that influence us. Perhaps we, as viewers, can imagine the ritual to which these images belong, or perhaps we can perceive the absence of ritual and tribe in our lives.