A totemic female figure with head unseen stands tall amongst a clearing in a forest. The season, latitude, and time of day are unspecified in the crisp contrasting monochrome.
The athletic body glows as if illuminated by some inner source. The hair sprouting almost spontaneously caresses the torso infused with its own energy and directionality; lithe and sensually swirling and dancing like smoke trails.
The strong symmetrical composition of the upper body has the elbows and fingers flexed to create a diamond. We are pointed towards the font of fertility - the sacrament of the title.
With one leg in front of the other, the lady could be in motion towards the viewer or rooted in a meditative posture. Either way, there is a strong sculptural suggestion here with the blond hair acting as the contours of a translucent marble.
This portrait devoid of a face places a veneration for the everyday in its natural context, shorn of later civilisations needs to enclose and codify worship within domes and arches.
To be naked is to be oneself.
To be nude is to be seen naked by others
and yet not recognized for oneself.
A naked body has to be seen as an object
in order to become a nude.
John Berger
Ways of Seeing
Part of a solo exhibition 'The Great Sympatheia of the Feminine' at A Mini Bar Hackney, London from 26 April to 31 May 2025 curated by VVA.
