About the artwork

Prehistoric California Goddess is a Pop Art salute to a circa 4,200 B.C. figurine from Romania's brilliant Cucuteni-Trypillia civilization (see gallery image for the original inspirational figurine.)   Two panels of the diptych offer front and back views of an ancient female fetish form detailed with repeated use of revived prehistoric art patterns: whirls, M designs, lines, chevrons, hooks, horns, eggs, circles, etc.  Although the black, white, and terra cotta palette recalls early Grecian pottery, this re-created effigy specifically honors the primeval goddess of Southern California -- as it sports the trademark bikini of a shapely, healthy beach girl.  Splashes of yellow and turquoise are my winks to fellow living modern Goddesses, as we howl together at this celebration of the eternal beauty of real women -- cellulite and all!   In addition to displaying on a wall, the pieces can be arranged back-to-back on a pedestal as a sculpture.   Prehistoric California Goddess is part of my Eternal Goddess series of timeless icons expressed in enduring artistic symbols.  Prehistoric fetish figures.  Warriors.  Queens. Mothers.  Modern feminists. They celebrate feminine power: fertility, nourishment, love, renewal, vulnerability, strength, beauty, sensuality, regality, dignity, intelligence, wisdom, and communion with nature and each other.  Through a host of media and in styles ranging from representational to abstract to Pop Art, the works come alive via designs born in primeval times but embraced today: chevrons, swirls, zig zags, breast, nets, snakes, eggs, moons, arrowheads, vulvas, spirals, etc.  The "goddess hieroglyphics," if you will, as coined by archeologist and prehistorian Marija Gimbutas. Simple.  Classic.  Ancient. But also Modern.   As such, Prehistoric California Goddess and the Goddess Eternal series are part of umbrella motif of my works featured here, Ancient is Modern, Modern is Ancient, which translates abstract art techniques of color, geometry, texture, shape, line, form, and pattern of bygone eras into contemporary aesthetic and sensibility. (My Cave Art and Southwestern Landscape series fall under this umbrella theme as well.) .