Underneath and Above by Bianca Vern-Barnett

Size (cm): 102 x 102
oil, enamel and charcoal on canvas

The expression of my inner and imagined worlds, and how they intersect with collective memory, stories and legends, is central to my practice. In my painting, “Underneath and Above”, I draw on the myth of Demeter and Persephone. Persephone is abducted by Hades while picking flowers in a meadow, after the earth opens and he emerges in a chariot led by horses. Her loss and return send Demeter through cycles of grief and joy that are reflected in the changing seasons. Demeter, as mother, is an important figure for me, and I use the chaos of the abduction to explore loss, chaos and upheaval in my own life. While making the painting, I imagined the horses rushing out of the earth, the meadow, the sunny day and the setting sun as Persephone disappeared. The work also includes a pomegranate, symbolising Persephone’s fate: after eating six seeds in the underworld, she must return there for part of each year.