I've been asked the story behind Herrlein's Eve. Some time ago, I was asked if I would ever paint another Lilith, and while I considered it, it was more intriguing for me to paint a new story, a different larger-than-life female. I tossed around Valkyries (Brunnhilde), the sirens, Venus, Salome, Persephone, Medusa, Diana, mermaids…. but I kept coming back to Eve and the lush garden of Eden. I love painting greens and I envisioned some rich green/blue hues. I was in Malta at the time and the sea was inspiring a color palette and I toyed with several designs… when I was alerted that a former older acquaintance whose advances and demands I had politely refused, had posted a series of vicious and nasty comments on my Facebook page.
Then the police contacted me. And I was stunned to learn that this woman had allegedly turned my current address and phone number over to a man I lived with in college, a violently abusive man who had threatened my life. A man she didn't know, but they were similar in many respects. The police wanted to know how I knew this woman (I used to work with her husband, they had a personal interest in me, I left the job). The police were concerned about my safety when I returned to the States.
Of course, my design for Eve took a different turn… it grew darker. I thought about how too quickly and easily it is for some people to turncoat and scapegoat others for their own disappointments in life. And it became clear to me that this woman's one particularly nasty turn of phrase ("you're just a convenient wet hole for all") was significant for the Eve story: after all, hasn't Eve just been a convenient excuse for all mankind? Blaming a single female for genesis of all their sin?
And suddenly Eve became the story of Everywoman. The story of love, loss, truth, lies, cowardice and betrayal. And like my painting of Lilith, it incorporates so much of my own story.
Then the police contacted me. And I was stunned to learn that this woman had allegedly turned my current address and phone number over to a man I lived with in college, a violently abusive man who had threatened my life. A man she didn't know, but they were similar in many respects. The police wanted to know how I knew this woman (I used to work with her husband, they had a personal interest in me, I left the job). The police were concerned about my safety when I returned to the States.
Of course, my design for Eve took a different turn… it grew darker. I thought about how too quickly and easily it is for some people to turncoat and scapegoat others for their own disappointments in life. And it became clear to me that this woman's one particularly nasty turn of phrase ("you're just a convenient wet hole for all") was significant for the Eve story: after all, hasn't Eve just been a convenient excuse for all mankind? Blaming a single female for genesis of all their sin?
And suddenly Eve became the story of Everywoman. The story of love, loss, truth, lies, cowardice and betrayal. And like my painting of Lilith, it incorporates so much of my own story.
