The High Priestess 2020

Editor: This oil painting is titled "The High Priestess" and was completed in 2020 by Zoe Hawk. I’m immediately struck by its quiet intensity and, somehow, the stillness is palpable. The composition is interesting; the woman seems suspended between two worlds, framed by trees and that stark yellow cloth. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It's a lovely feeling, isn't it? The artist has bottled a secret. The longer I look, the more I'm convinced this is a portrait, but also an entire world. Notice the pomegranates. Persephone ate the pomegranate seeds and doomed herself to return to the underworld. I wonder if our high priestess holds that same destiny? Or maybe she's offering them. She definitely holds a gaze. What is she considering, I wonder, for those she judges, those she forgives, those who are beneath her dignity to notice? Editor: That connection to Persephone makes so much sense! I hadn't even considered the pomegranates and how that myth might be informing the reading of this piece. Do you think the rather austere, almost primitive, composition, contrasts or adds to this idea? Curator: Austere is the perfect word. She strips everything away to essentials: light, earth, sky, being. What else do you really need? And by doing so, she's issued us an invitation. Enter her world and leave your excess baggage at the door. She invites you to sit beside her, doesn't she? Editor: Absolutely. Before this conversation, I saw a portrait of a woman. Now, I'm not so sure; this almost feels like an invitation into self-reflection. Curator: And that's the fun part, isn't it? Letting art lead you back to yourself. It can make you see something entirely new and unique each time you meet.