However, I am amazed that the general education of most "educated" people leaves them with knowing very little about mythology at all, save for Zeus or Medusa or possibly Poseidon, now thanks to Disney...And it further amazes me that we use terms in our everyday language that we don't know the origins of. How many times have you heard things like "fate brought us together" or "fate worse than death" or "seal someone's fate" or my personal favorite, "twist of fate"? Ever wonder where we came up with those idioms? No? Well, maybe I'm the odd one... anyway, when I was preparing for Artomatic, I really started thinking about my fate, which then got me to thinking about THE FATES. As in the three sisters in mythology that control your life and the lives of the gods. Yes, those powerful women! Not familiar with them? Well, let me fix that now.
The three Fates, also called Moirai, were the three goddesses who personified the destiny of every man, as well as the gods. Their names were Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. For us mere mortals they determined when life began, when it ended, and everything that happened in between. For the gods, they declared their divine privileges and functions. Yep, there was no glass ceiling for these girls! It is believed that the three Fates were sisters, and each had her own task when it came to determining one's fate. In this post, I will introduce you to Clotho. She was the youngest of the sisters and was "the spinner" of the thread of life. She spun the thread of destiny with a spindle, determining the time of a person's birth.
My version of Clotho
I used doll arms and legs to symbolize her role in the birth of a person. I wanted her to be as minimalist as possible to further symbolize the idea of a blank slate... of endless possibilities...
A close up of the nest used to symbolize the security of home. The yarn is used to symbolize her role as the spinner and the multi-colored yarn represented multiple paths in life...
I used fiber paste to create her textured face and then inked it.
Here's a tip: fiber paste will suck up/attract/ (whatever annoying verb you want to insert here) any and all pigments that are remotely close by. Wear gloves and make sure your workspace is pristine or else you may end up with fiber paste that isn't the color you want it to be!
Creepy, I know! But oh so much fun to keep ogling!
And here she is in the process of having her own yarn spun!
Deinde usque ad tempus (until next time for you non Latin speakers)...be in charge of your own fate!
