Carla Goldberg-Artists Statement:
Bodice Of The Goddess-The Secret Life Of The Hudson
I have been working on this series of mixed media paintings since January of 2009. In “Bodice Of The Goddess- the Secret Life of the Hudson River”, I give liberal license to the stories behind the histories, myths and legends of the Hudson River exploring the playful and vengeful sides of the River Goddesses of the Hudson. It is the interaction of Goddess affections and jealousies, in play with Earth, water and the human world that puts the viewer as witness to the wave action and radical weather phenomena unveiling before their eyes.

The way I interpret it, River Goddess lore has us believe that it is Diva like temperamental female whims of self indulgence that create an emotional response that is reflected back into the river creating the constantly changing waves and sudden and glorious storms that brew over the Hudson. What we as humans perceive is not the true intentions of the Goddesses, for Goddesses do as they please and play with all the elements as mere toys. Even Kipsy, the Hudson River’s own mythical version of the Loch Ness monster is a mere playmate for the River Goddesses. It is the Goddesses female torsos under the watery depth of the river that form the peeks and valleys of the underwater terrain. If you’ve ever wondered why a ship sinks or a sailor falls overboard, blame it on a temperamental Goddess. Many of my images appear to look like aerial photographs or topographical maps. They are in fact dimensional mixed media paintings utilizing many traditional and non-traditional materials like acrylic, latex and oil paints, drywall compound, ink, powdered micas and resin. Some materials are simply found either around the house or from walks in nature, like dead bugs, candy boxes, shells and beads. My paintings evolve in multiple layers of paint and materials all embedded in layer upon layer of resin. Anything I find interesting or unusual is fair game. For me, resin is a metaphor for water. The layering of materials in resin is meant to make you feel as if you were seeing through water.

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