Metamorfosis - Metamorphosis

In 2019 my brother invited me, in Madrid, to see Francesco Cavalli’s opera Calisto. I was impressed. This version is set in a 1970s brothel. There were figures of animals that looked like something out of a comic book. By putting the myth in the present, and Zeus as the rapist, it made me think about the hidden messages of mythology.

The myths have promoted patriarchal values ​​and the division of gender roles, with women’s roles clearly inferior to men’s. I started reading Ovideo’s “Metamorphosis” and worked on a series about the transformations of humans into animals, their causes and effects. Were the new transformed bodies cages, disguises, powers, tricks or truths?

This series pays tribute to all those women and men who have been raped or deceived by the patriarchal power, which disguises itself as an almighty god.

Callisto

Hunter who belonged to the procession of Artemis, goddess of the hunt, before whom she had taken the obligatory vow of chastity. Zeus falls in love with her and to seduce her, he changes into the form of Artemis. Calisto eventually became pregnant. To prevent the adventure from reaching his wife Hera’s ears, Zeus turned her into a bear.

Minotaur

It is a monster from Greek mythology, the body of a man and the head of a bull. He was locked in a labyrinth to keep him. Seven men and seven women were brought into the labyrinth as offerings to be fed to the beast.