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Barbara J Simcoe
Associate Professor, Art and Art History
(402) 554-2392
Office: 330 WFAB
bsimcoe@mail.unomaha.eduPersonal Website: http://www.barbarasimcoe.com
Seven years ago I made a decision to directly address issues of my heritage which is Eastern European and Catholic. My grandparents, all came from rural eastern Europe as young adults. My own urban upbringing as a second generation American was not really any different from that of other middle class Americans. And yet over the past ten years or so – my identity – who I am, what I believe and how I arrived at those – seemed to become more and more prominent in my consciousness to the point of my “decision.” Like many who make significant changes in direction, it took quite a long time of searching and working before I felt comfortable and integrated with my choice – intellectually and conceptually. The emotional part of my decision was never a problem. The works of recent years are testimony to the path I have followed in my art making.With the receipt of a University Research Grant in 1999 I began an investigation into the imagery of Black Virgin imagery. The Black Madonna of Czestochowa in Poland was the starting point that opened up for me a huge body of information which I am still processing. The essence of what I have discovered is that the Black Madonna/Virgin is an archetypal image that has existed in the mythologies and religious practices of human beings for many millenia. There is substantial evidence that this image/goddess type was appropriated by the Church throughout the spread of Christianity as a vehicle for Mary. However, the persistence of devotion specifically to the Black Virgin sculptures and painted images – to this day – suggests the sustaining and powerful hold of fragments from the original archetype of antiquity.
In terms of subject matter, the meanings I suggest in my work have their sources in Christian and mythological iconographic systems that deal with notions of intercession, prayer, healing and regeneration. Imagery of the feminine is prominent in my pieces. I am not interested in the reality of appearance and so settings are mysterious and somewhat surreal while other elements of my pieces are treated representationally. The imagery of landscape, cave-like forms and water often provide a visual context.
My paintings, drawings and digital pieces are not narratives, nor are they only “Christian” in terms of their iconography. They are associative and referential and were designed with the intention that an audience approach and receive the works on their own terms and points of view. I have come to see the Black Madonna/Virgin as a metaphor for the feminine aspect of divinity and for the need to experience the discord and disorientation of darkness that can be transmutated to healing, knowledge and wisdom.
