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Persephone.
Not your ordinary name.
For artist Anne Pundyk, however, Persephone is a name she knows
almost as well as her own. Persephone, who is the daughter of Demeter --
the Greek goddess of the harvest -- is the key figure of a Greek myth
bearing her name. "Persephone" is also the title and theme of Pundyk's art
exhibit opening and talk this Friday at Washington and Lee University's
Williams School of Commerce.
"The Greek myth of Persephone explains the origin of the four seasons,
but to me it's more about the relationship between a daughter and a
mother," said Pundyk. "This bond is tested and strengthened by separation,
the threat of death and earthly destruction, loss of innocence and reunion.
"The vast American landscape from California to New York is the
backdrop for the maternal drama unfolding for Demeter and Persephone with
Hades, Lord of the Underworld; Zeus, King of the Gods; and Hermes, the
messenger," explained Pundyk.
The show consists of about 35 to 40 pieces done in different media and
sizes. There are five large acrylic paintings on paper, about eight small
watercolors, 15 photos and six pencil drawings. The drawings are complete
studies in themselves which incorporate pieces of the Persephone myth
text.
"As you go from the pencil drawings to the larger acrylics, it becomes
less literal," explained Pundyk. "It's somewhat like going from a book to a
movie."
Pundyk's work seems to have an almost dreamlike effect even though there
is a definite story line. Pundyk's style taps both the inner mind and outer
realities. She likes to deal in multiple layers -- words on top of
paintings incorporating map contours, faces, objects and even overlaying
seams of paper on top of paper giving the overall work a rich textural
feeling. In addition, she uses the interaction of paint with paper as part
of her art, keeping the shapes that occur from paint spills, for instance.
"It's a balancing act," she said. "You end up with an artwork that's
intriguing. I like it to be beautiful and yet I want it to be
entertaining."
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The story of Persephone
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"I have divided the story of Persephone into six turning points and have
associated a phrase for each of the sections," she explained. "In the
beginning Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest, and her beautiful daughter
Persephone are living blissfully together providing bountiful harvests for
the earth.”
One day, while Demeter isn't looking, Hades, God of the Dead, sees
Persephone, falls in love with her and takes her back with him to the
Underworld, said Pundyk. Persephone is miserable in the Underworld, where
there were no flowers, trees or birds and the only plant is the
pomegranate.
The fourth section, which along with the first section is most fully
developed in Pundyk's ongoing project, is when Demeter becomes so
distraught and angry about losing her daughter that she makes the earth
cold and barren.
Finally, the mother learns where her daughter is and negotiates with
Zeus, king of the gods, to have her returned. As part of the negotiation to
reunite mother and daughter, Persephone has to return to the underworld for
three months each year, symbolic of the three pomegranate seeds she has
eaten. Demeter, in turn, refuses to allow plants to grow during those three
months of winter.
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Personalizing the myth
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Although it is a Greek myth, Pundyk has personalized the story. Most
obvious is the fact that Pundyk uses her family and herself as inspiration
for the characters in the myth. Persephone is Pundyk's 14-year-old daughter
Phoebe, while Demeter is Pundyk's mother. Evan, her 10-year-old son is
Hermes and her husband Jeff is both Zeus and Hades.
"When I read the story of Persephone, everything clicked," she said. "It
fit so well for me. The story seemed like the right story for me to tell.
It just seemed truer for me. I could see my family and me as part of the
story."
But Pundyk likes this story because she is not only a mother but a
daughter.
In Pundyk's mind, her mother, Molly Brown of Lexington, is one of the
main reasons she was attracted to the myth of Persephone. Her mother and
her now-deceased father, Dirck Brown, started the Roots and Shoots Garden,
an intergenerational garden at Waddell Elementary School, shortly after
moving to Lexington 10 years ago.
"The threads for me of both art and nature come from maternal sources,"
she said. "My grandmother was an artist and my mother, an educator and
gardener. The idea of mother and mother nature have been in the back of
my mind for as long as I can remember.
"My relationship with my daughter is more in the foreground for me right
now, but it's inspired by my mother whose picture isn't in the show," added
Pundyk.
Molly Brown both inspired Pundyk with a love of nature and gave
Pundyk many of the objects that appear in the paintings, she said.
"The still-life objects have a kind of magical association for me," she
said. "Since we moved so much, we would always go back and visit my
grandmother in Ohio in her 150-year-old house.
"Most of these objects came from my grandmother's house, but my mom
gave them to me," she said. "They represent a sense of security and
peacefulness. They're kind of quirky, but they give me a feeling of comfort
and of creativity."
Pundyk's works show the objects overlaid with the narrative of the
story in the same way Greek vases have stories on them.
"Myths and fables have always appealed to me because they touch on
universal or archetypal qualities," she said. "They may be old stories
retold many times, but they are still relevant. Often they touch on deep
feelings and mixed motives just below the surface."
Pundyk has been intrigued with Persephone in particular for the last
year and a half. Creating art to the theme of Persephone has been a process
of change and evolution and is a departure from what Pundyk has done in the
past.
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Challenges
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"Prior to this, it was more single statements and my work was less
narrative-based but I wanted to tackle something bigger," she said.
"Having challenged myself to take on a narrative for an entire group
of paintings, I found I needed to develop a new painting vocabulary,"
she said. "As far as composition, I began to see the story needed to be
told from each of the character's point of view.
"Related to this is the idea of translating a written story into a
visual language," she added.
For the latter change, Pundyk said she found herself using tools she had
acquired over the years but in new experimental ways. Although she has
a background in photography, Pundyk said she learned to use imaging
software, for example, and how to print large-scale images.
"It's a process of exploration. This experimentation is thrilling,
yet difficult," she noted. "I have gone into my studio every day for the
last year with a game plan of sorts, but frequently that would change as I
began to work."
Local art enthusiasts may be familiar with some of Pundyk's earlier
work if they saw her 2002 show at the Nelson Street Gallery. In this show,
Pundyk incorporated teacups in poetic landscapes. Chairs as well as teacups
have been some of the recurring themes in her art. In addition, she also
likes using maps for their colors and shapes but also because of what
they signify.
"Maps are scientifically done and they're very precise, but they
describe a vastness," she said. "It's a way of containing a larger amount
of space within the artwork -- something you can hold in your hand. It's
a different kind of perspective, a different kind of landscape."
Maps have been an important factor in Pundyk's own life, too. The
48-year-old was born in Manhattan but spent much of her childhood
moving between the East and West coasts as well as the Midwestern part
of the United States.
Pundyk's educational background is just as varied. She studied at the
Sorbonne in Paris in 1976 and received a bachelor of arts degree from
Pomona College in California in 1978 and a master of fine arts degree from
the Rhode Island School of design in Providence in 1982. Her work is
currently represented in over 40 collections in the United States and
Europe.
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Interacting on art
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The Lexington show and talk have inspired Pundyk to reflect on what she
wants to say about her art.
"To me, it's an honor to have the show here, and the lecture is an
exciting aspect for me," she said. "Again, its a challenge. It's forcing me
to think about my work in a different way in order to put to words the
reasons behind what I do."
One thing Pundyk wants to emphasize during her talk, she said, is the
process she goes through because she feels the process is as important as
the end product.
Although the works featured are all finished pieces, the series itself
is a work in progress. This show is only part of the entire project, which
will most likely require another year to year and a half to complete, said
Pundyk. She hopes to eventually publish a book of all the paintings.
"I invite the audience to get involved with the art and react to it,"
said Pundyk, who will have her e-mail address set up for the show and a
place on her Web site to post comments from viewers. "My personal vision
gives final shape to my artwork, but I rely on my audience's reactions to
keep my field of view as wide as possible as I consider my next steps."
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