PAINTINGS > Disgracers Series

The four paintings in this series are based on "The Four Disgracers," prints by Hendrik Goltzius (1558-1617). I liked the idea of disgracing as an activity and started thinking of modern women as active disgracers instead of passive disgraced beings. Goltzius has four nude Greek heroes falling from heaven or Olympus (including Phaeton, Icarus, Tantalus, and Ixion). I found each of their stories and subsequent hellish punishments archetypical of human endeavor thwarted -- and especially evocative of brave women who reach high in spite of society's labels of disgrace.