Persephone’s Pomegranate Garden (Paintings and poetries) -2024

The pomegranate, intertwined with women's bodies, mythologies, and religions across Europe, Persia, and Asia, holds deep cultural significance in Buddhist, Islamic, Judaic, and Christian traditions. It symbolizes fertility, with its seeds and rind historically linked to fertility control (Lebo K, 2021). Its red hue and many seeds also represent menstruation.

In Greek mythology, the pomegranate plays a pivotal role in the story of Demeter and Persephone. Demeter, a Neolithic goddess symbolizing life and nature, is considered The Great Mother by Erich Neumann, reflecting a universal maternal archetype. Persephone's consumption of pomegranate seeds, tricked by Hades, binds her to the underworld for half her life, illustrating the ancient Greeks' explanation for the seasons. This act marks her separation from her mother and her journey through the underworld.

Demeter's grief over Persephone halts growth, causing autumn and winter. Persephone's resilience and acceptance of her dual life bring a balance of light and darkness, life and death, restoring the cycle of seasons. Inspired by the myth of Demeter and Persephone, Sammy explores the mother-daughter relationship and her female identity through poetic metaphor, visual arts, and personal narrative. Using the metaphor of Persephone and Demeter, Sammy delves into themes of separation, duality, self-identity, and transformation. By employing the symbolic and cultural significance of the pomegranate in this mythology, she examines women’s studies and the interplay between personal and collective experiences.
This page presents the paintings Sammy created inspired by this topic, along with her published poetries in 2024.

Design editor: Michelle Ma
ISBN 978-1-3999-8872-8
Paintings with chemicals on watercolor paper, 21cm-29.7cm, 2024