"FREYA’S TEARS" the Art & Poetry of Mia Barkan Clarke

Opening Reception
Saturday, June 21, 2014
6-9pm
Poetry Reading 7:30pm

Additional Gallery Hours: 6/21 & 6/22 1-4pm

BAFFA GALLERY
47 Gillette Avenue
Sayville, NY 11781
631-589-7343

ABOUT FREYA’S TEARS

Freya, the Norse goddess of love, lust, magic, war, and death, is the source of my inspiration for this series, and my personal muse. She is loved and desired by all, yet she only longs for Odin, the “All Father,” King of the gods, who is absent, fighting battles across the universe. She sits and waits for Odin, crying tears of red-gold all alone on her golden throne with her two faithful cats by her side. It is said that the amber stones one can find on the shores of the Baltic Sea are called “Freya’s Tears,” which gave birth to the name of this series. Freya is a member of the Vanir, which is made up of a group of deities associated with fertility, wisdom and prognostication. She is strongly connected to the Valkyries and receives first pick of those warriors who die in battle. The rest go to Odin’s hall, Valhalla. People who have worshipped Freya have always wanted something from her in one way or another. I have wondered what she wanted and how she felt, emotionally. In this series of art and poetry, I have attempted to capture how Freya feels. I believe there is a little of the goddess in all women, and naturally I identify with Freya on some level. I have tried to capture her emotional state through abstract figurative minimalism; pen and ink on vellum paper, acrylic on canvas, and authentic silver leaf, in mainly black and white, with very little color. In this concentration of both word and form, I hope I have captured her fragility, sadness, beauty, and depth, as well as her anger, strength and power, drawing the viewer into a special journey to be at one with Freya, among the gods of Asgard. Come viewer, see and taste the nectar and the ambrosia of Freya’s Tears.

© Mia Barkan Clarke