Selene. by Gower, Mari Eckstein - 2013.

Redmond, Washington:: Mari Eckstein Gower,, 2013.. One-of-a-Kind. A custom-made book-like structure (6 x 8.5") with tie closure opens to reveal a Moleskine Japanese Accordion Album (3.5 x 5.625", 32 pages) lying in a cavity. The accordion opens to a 10' (prefolded paper) on which Gower has created original images, using black- and colored-ink pens. Mari Eckstein Gower: "One of my first steps in choosing a topic is giving myself a color scheme challenge. This time I wanted to work on the colour palate of the night sky and also to experiment with metallic inks. The subject of the moon goddess was a natural choice since I love just about anything that has to do with the myths about the stars, planets, moon. "I started out thinking about the scientific and folklore images of the moon differ from the Greek myth. Some people see a man in the moon, or a rabbit. But I can't help but think of the moon as a female – the Greek goddess Selene. In mythology, Selene is sister to Helios, the sun. He leads the way across the sky, but once the Goddess Nix raises her hand to bring on the night, and the evening star rises, the whole show belongs to the moon. I loved the image of all those gods and goddesses riding in a procession. "The myths about Selene do not agree about what animal pulls her chariot. In some versions it is a team of oxen, while in others it is moon white horses. The museum in Athens has a beautiful dramatic statue of the head of one of Selene's horses. The image is so dynamic, I couldn't resist creating my own version. "Selene has many children, including the fates and the seasons. The four seasons were a popular motif for Roman floor mosaics (which inspired my depiction here.) I saw a lovely example displayed in the museum in York, England, that dates back to the Roman occupation of that town. "In the final panels of the book I portrayed night creatures associated with Selene, observations about the tides, and lastly bits of the Endymion [the most handsome mortal beloved by Selene]legend.