Celia Jones

My childhood home was one that revered the old ways. We practiced a pre-Christian faith of earth worship and believed in both gods and goddess. Alongside our ancient forms of worship, I learned about other ancient cultures’ religions and, in turn, their art. It was the combination of earth worship and exposure to other cultures that has seeded my artmaking practice with fertile ideas. My untraditional upbringing armed me with a critical eye, a reverence for the awe inspiring power women hold, as well as instilled within me a strict accountability for waste I produced and the importance of recycling.

The majority of the people in the United States have not had the same values imparted upon them. The world in which we live is driven by capitalistic drives which are shortsighted to say the least in regard to impact on our environment. We have become a single-use society which both frightens and saddens me as I think of the fate of both the planet and art itself.

Much like how the Earth has been dominated and mistreated, women are as used well, though not to the extent of the bad old days. Yet, women are still inordinately sexalized and often seen as “lesser.” The female form has been prevalent in European art for centuries. Objectified and revered, posed only to be considered desirable.

I paint in a similar style to classical artists, depicting the female form, in an effort to update the aspects that surround her and thus produce an image that speaks about the modern treatment of women. Style is a recognizable time-stamp and in so using classical style, I wish to bring one back to a time where people thought differently, and then in image, yank them back to the present.