In October 2023 I needed to expand outside my box! While watching, William Henry, one of my favorite hosts and contributors of ‘Ancient Aliens’ on TV. Who also has several enlightening programs on Gaia TV. I decided I wanted to go on one of his tours to Egypt. My choice because of his extensive knowledge of Egypt and his wisdom. He also chooses luxury accommodations. The incredible nuances of a two week trip to Egypt can’t be taken up here. One thing that stood out, however, was the under-representation of the feminine in any of the history books I’ve ever read.
Hathor the Cow Goddess has a huge place called Dendera Temple Complex. Her head is atop every pillar and on the walls. She’s depicted as a cow, symbolizing her maternal and celestial aspects, but she is so much more.
While I was painting her, a friend gave me a large piece of shed snake skin.
I am also exploring kundalini. This is the ancient wisdom and practices of raising the energy of consciousness through our bodies. Depicted as a snake coiled at the base of the spine. Kundalini energy rises from the base to the crown of our head. In both of these paintings, I’ve chosen to emphasize the kundalini at the crown. I did this by embedding the snake skin into the paintings.
The second painting is of Sekhmet, a goddess in the form of a lion. She’s also many things, but notably has a maternal nature and a ferocious nature. William told us a story about Sekhmet being contained in the walled cell at Karnak. The lore tells us that at night she roams the grounds of the temple there.
It’s daunting to stand in front of her statue. You can feel her energy. Some say her eyes move while she’s watching you.
Again, I embedded the shed snake skin into the painting. I also used neon paint to show a difference between Sekhmet in the daytime and Sekhmet at night.
I used acrylic paints, including neon (aka phosphorescent), embedded paper, snake skin, metal composition leaf and inks.
One last thing about neon paint. It is extremely difficult to photograph. Its appearance changes drastically based on the varying amount of light that is in the room.
susan krieg 