The death of Venus by Sophia Shuvalova

It is another self portrait and carries a personal narrative making it perhaps somewhat difficult to fully read for the audience. The all red traffic light has a particular relevance to my personal identity as it describes some of my current personal issues as well as my long-going dissatisfaction with the obedience and the conformity I come across in others and at times even myself which I feel prevent much needed change in today's society. The microphone also comes in here as the symbol for public speaking seeking to inform. It is an orator's microphone. However it is overpowered (through the use of red and higher position on the canvas) by the traffic light, this very frightening and strong symbol for obedience and compliance. Furthermore the microphone is obviously silent, and the figure may not even have a mouth to speak with as far as anyone can tell, the figure's face is covered. The speech can not be heard. The figure is Venus. Venus stands not only for beauty, fertility and romantic love but also, in Plato's view for the love of knowledge. But Venus can not manifest herself in this picture, this picture shows her death. She is powerless, silent, covered as if not even wishing to be seen in all her glory, as if hiding in shame at her own inability to embody the great values she stands for. This painting is an appropriation of Botticelli's Birth of Venus. The idealisation and the glory in Botticelli's romanticised depiction of this goddess, the embrace of the things she stands for is no longer suitable in the cynical, fragmented, manipulated by greed and for the most part disinterested in true values contemporary society. It seams to me today it is almost more appropriate to celebrate her death, which after all could only have been brought about by ourselves.