Persephone's Path

I am continuing to work on this piece of discharge shibori.The top layer I've shown before... buttonhole stitch has been used to create an undulating line that runs the length of the piece and to define three little openings that lead to the second layer. The second layer is made of red linen muted with an over dye of dark brown. This red layer is slowly being shaped by pin tucks stitched down with bright red and burgundy flosses. The texture is reminiscent of worn rock layers found in canyons.

I have now begun to attach it to the base layer made of heavy canvas dyed in brown and black. The finished size should be about 14"x 52". I have no idea how I will manage to photograph it. I plan to stretch it as a painting would be.

This is a slow piece of cloth in every sense of the word. It defies me to stitch with a machine. I feel that the textiles, the concepts it embodies and the original inspiration all demand hand stitching. I had NO plans to stick entirely to all hand work for this.

I knew it was about the Persephone myth, and Jungian arch type when I started (referenced in Goddesses in Everywoman a New Psychology of Women by Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D.). That was my choice , vision , creative decision. However I hadn't reread the chapter in a long time... today I thought I would look for a quote and here is a nice juicy bit I found regarding Persephone as the Queen and Guide of the underworld:

Symbolically, the underworld can represent deeper layers of the psyche, a
place where memories and feelings have been "buried" (the personal unconscious)
and where images, patterns, instincts and feelings that are archetypal and
shared by humanity are found (the collective unconscious).
Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D.

I find I am running out of words at the moment but this quote really is relevant to my heart, head and hand.