Birds and Feathers in Jane Gemayel’s Art

C R I M E & P U N I S H M E N T - THE PROPHET

Many of you will have noticed that some of Jane’s work is filled with feathers. Indeed, in both Woman and The Prophet, the symbolism of the bird is very present. In The Prophet, Jane Gemayel chose to dress many women in feathers. Although the geometric patterns may vary in her paintings, feathers and birds are an integral part of her work.

In Children, there is a woman in the centre of the painting who appears to be supporting several children in a foetal position. Her torso is bare, and only part of her body is covered by a fabric with geometric patterns, some of which are reminiscent of feathers. In addition, she is supported by a plumage reminiscent of a male peacock’s tail.

In Clothing, the woman is dressed in a clever mix of geometric shapes, flowers and feathers that fit her body perfectly and give an unparalleled voluptuousness. She is strategically positioned in the centre of the work and her attire seems to carry her upwards. She rises. This painting is quite similar to Woman, Into The Night which also celebrates a form of elevation of the woman, dressed in feathers.

In the painting Lovers, from the current The Prophet, we again find a woman dressed in a similar way, curled up in what appears to be a male figure, barely sketched in outline.

It is only in the painting Houses, from the same current, that we find a bird in its entirety. It is in a corner, as if it wanted to be partly hidden. Looking at the female figure at the other end of the work, one notices that its tail extends down to the bottom of the painting in a thin line. Despite its small size, the bird watches over the house.

But it is in the Freedom painting that the presence of feathers is most obvious. The woman is elevated to the status of a goddess, a mythological creature, and may bring to mind the legend of the swan woman. The legend tells the story of a young man who wishes to marry a swan woman wearing a beautiful dress made of feathers. To prevent her from escaping and flying away, he takes her. She later gives birth to two children who know where their father has hidden the feather dress. Overwhelmed by sadness, she cries often, until her children reveal the location of the dress. Even though abandoning her children is terrible, she finds the dress and flies back to where she came from and will return to visit her children from time to time.

This legend therefore tells of the deprivation of freedom in the woman who seeks to regain it at all costs over time and succeeds.

For Jane, as in the legend, feathers are a symbol of freedom and emancipation for the captive woman who has been subjected to a form of patriarchal captivity for thousands of years.