Daphne

About this work:

I see the history of art as being an ongoing conversation between artists throughout the past 73,000 years, from the earliest drawings found in Blombos cave in South Africa to today. With that in mind, this work is a conversation spanning 2,000 years between the roman poet Ovid, the Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and myself.

I created the work using static electricity, through the same “Lichtenberg Figure” stamping process that I used with Superhero Freeze Breath. What resulted here is a Rorschach pattern of sorts, in which I see a tree, and towards the right side, I see an arm and flowing hair. I was immediately reminded of Bernini’s sculpture Apollo and Daphne, and of the classic tale from Ovid’s Metamorphosis on which Bernini’s work is based.

In a nutshell, the god Apollo (god of the sun) mocks Cupid, and in return Cupid curses Apollo by shooting him with a golden arrow that causes him to fall madly in love with the water nymph Daphne. Cupid also shoots Daphne with an arrow—one made of lead, which causes her to spurn Apollo’s advances. Apollo pursues Daphne with a burning intensity, and Daphne appeals to her father for help. Her father agrees to help, but warns that her wish will be her punishment as well. In the climax of the story, just when Apollo catches up to her, she turns into a laurel tree.

Bernini’s masterpiece captures that moment of dramatic transformation, and seeing that reflected here as well, I chose to title this work Daphne.

P.S. Fun fact! The laurel wreath/crown, commonly associated with academics today (but much like the Classical Orders, once you see it you start to see it everywhere) has its roots in this tale as well. After Daphne is turned into a tree, Apollo still loves her, and declares that “if she will not be his love she will be his tree” and that her leaves will be used as symbols of poetry and victory. They are still used that way today.

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