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"Mardi Gras Moon Goddess" is a four color lithograph with additional plates of Metallic Gold and Pearled Varnish.
The Romans called her "Diana," but she has had many names in many cultures worldwide, some of which are inscribed around the moon window in the print. By whatever name, Isis, Ishtar, Artemis, Bridget, Ngami, she is the complex, contradictory Nature Goddess, continually reinventing herself just as the phases of the moon change from night to night.
She is the huntress and the protector of all animals. She is the virgin goddess and the many -breasted mother goddess. She is the Lady of the Beasts, accompanied by an entourage of nymphs, and yet the goddess of solitude. She represents the part of us that is at home with our primitive, instinctual nature.
Diana's festival in Rome was a holiday for slaves (kinda like Mardi Gras?) and slaves could also ask for asylum in her temple. Diana hunted with a silver bow and shot arrows of moonlight. The waxing crescent moon is known as "Diana's Bow," and Diana is often portrayed accompanied by a stag. Her Greek counterpart, Artemis, was served by chaste priestesses called Mellisai, or "bees." Worshippers would gather in the goddess's greenwood and give themselves over to her power in wild revels.
"Diana's Bow" is the phase of the moon that appeared on Mardi Gras Night, February 27th, 2001.
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