"Arachne: Metamorphosis" by Candice Raquel Lee

Arachne: Metamorphosis (edition of 8), bronze
Size (in): 7H x 9W x 15" L with custom-handcrafted black wood base. $950 CAD including shipping.

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The Sculpture: Traditionally, artistic renditions of the Arachne myth simply depict a young woman in Greek attire sitting at a loom; more recent works show a spider with a human face. I am not aware of any figurative sculpted representations of the story. The difficulty of making this sculpture lay in capturing the moment of Arachne's transformation into a spider and combining correct human anatomy with arachnid features. The greatest challenge was maintaining an artistic balance between the agonized beauty of a fragile girl and the hideous nature of her transformation, between human and spider anatomy. Ultimately, I used Arachne's torn garments and her fallen posture to express the metamorphosis that begins with her hands and lower body.

For me, Arachne is an archetype for the artist who creates a work of beauty or metaphorically spins a tale and encounters the jealousy and cutthroat competition embodied in Athena's anger. The goddess' consolation also serves only to diminish Arachne, for a spider can no longer compete with the artistry of a goddess.

However, Arachne embodies the inescapable nature of artistic passion as well. Even the ultimate escape of death is denied her: Arachne must continue weaving, creating forever.

The Story: The Greco-Roman myth of Arachne is best told in Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Arachne was one of the finest weavers ever known and claimed that her skill rivaled that of the goddess Athena, the patron deity of weavers. Athena heard Arachne's boast and, disguised, confronted her in a tapestry weaving contest. Such was Arachne's skill that her work did indeed equal that of the goddess, so that the enraged Athena struck Arachne repeatedly and destroyed her work. Terrified, Arachne hanged herself, but Athena transformed her into a spider, another weaving creature, supposedly out of pity.

E-mail: candice@candiceraquel.com | Phone: 519.853.9037