Year: 2016

Published in the Gallatin Review Vol. 31, New York, NY

"Apollo grew impatient to find his wooings thrown away, and, sped by Cupid, gained upon Daphne in the race. It was like a hound pursuing a hare, with open jaws ready to seize, while the feebler animal darts forward, slipping from the very grasp. So flew the god and the virgin- he on the wings of love, and she on those of fear….Her strength begins to fail, and, ready to sink, she calls upon her father, the river god: “Help me, Peneus! open the earth to enclose me, or change my form, which has brought me into this danger!” Scarcely had she spoken, when a stiffness seized all her limbs; her bosom began to be enclosed in a tender bark; her hair became leaves; her arms became branches; her foot stuck fast in the ground, as a root; her face became a tree-top, retaining nothing of its former self." (x)

 

Daphne is a series of paintings inspired by the myth of Apollo and Daphne. By juxtaposing Daphne’s monologue with modern imagery reflective of the male gaze, Daphne highlights the pervasive attitudes in treating women as objects. Especially in the history of art and media, women are often represented as a mysterious “other” used as props of submissiveness and sex appeal. Thus, to escape the aggressions against women, female figures from “iconic” cultural media engage in Daphne’s active call for help. Ultimately, Daphne depicts these figures in the process of metamorphosis as flowers and leaves envelop their forms as a means of escape. While the disregard of basic human respect for females is tragic, the active pursuit of flight signifies the unwavering power of women to take control.