Searching For Aphrodite

“White foam surrounded the immortal flesh/ And in it grew a girl. At first [she] touched/ On holy Cythera, from there [she] came/ To Cyprus, circled by the waves.” Hesiod's ‘Theogony’

That “girl” came to be known as Aphrodite and Cyprus the island of love.

They still come in search of destiny, love and adventure but soon find themselves possessed by her longing. Amongst the ancient stones and ruins, in bars and nightclubs they begin to enact their own Greek tragedy. Each believing themselves the discoverer when they are just one of generations who have lost themselves in search of Aphrodite’s power – her name uttered in whispers.

‘Searching for Aphrodite; investigates this modern romantic myth. The photographs consider the invention of Aphrodite through still life, portrait and landscape images of archaeological sites, the work reveals layers of both autobiographical and fictional storytelling. There is a complexity to the mythology that surrounds the goddess Aphrodite, transposing our conceptions of this woman into a symbol that represents complex emotional narratives of gender and sexuality under the multifaceted label of “love.” She was a gender fluid, sexually convoluted figure embodying far more than the ‘happily-ever-after’ climax to the myth of romantic love.

Working specifically in Paphos in the South of the Island and using the mythology of the Island to inspire my work, I construct collaborative performative narratives from these ancient fictions. The stories that speak to Aphrodite and Adonis, Dionysius, Narcissus and Hecate forming a playful relationship with the spaces or stages I choose. With my camera, I invade quiet domestic landscapes and wander the unsettling valley of Lemba, a space lush with Morning Glory. Seduced by places of cultural history, I both seek the shade and embrace the sun. The brittle grasses, the harsh sunlight, the stones gently touching their neighbours are not unfamiliar – I have been visiting Cyprus for decades.

This is an ongoing series investigating my relationship and emotional response to the island; its history and mythology and how that impacts my relationship with myself and my own history.