Judith

It's here, my favorite day of the year!!! This October felt very important. I feel like I stepped into something significant this month. October is always so special to me. The veil between worlds is thinnest now and I really can feel it. One of the artists I featured last post wrote an amazing description of the history of Halloween so definitely check it out here: (x). Even though the month is almost up, I feel that I have begun to uncover more of myself and I don't want to give that path up. As we enter the "dark half" of the year, you can expect more witchiness, magic, femininity, and nature. This time of the year is always so cleansing to me, I just love it. 

I worked SO HARD on my costume this year, and I am so pumped to share it. I decided to embody Gustav Klimt's "Judith with the Head of Holofernes" from 1901. This work depicts the Old Testament heroine Judith, who used her sensuality to lure her enemy Holofernes (the general who was trying to take over her village) to her. After she had gotten the man drunk, she cut off his head, thus saving her village. She is looked at as a symbol of piety and modesty. Even though she used her sensuality to lure a man, she did it for her religion and people. In the Renaissance, this idea was explored through many paintings under a theme called "Power of Women". This topos explored the ways in which women could dominate men. It seems that Klimt tapped into this idea, making his Judith more of a femme fatale character. When he first painted this, his mostly Jewish elite audience was shocked, thinking that perhaps he meant to title the piece after Salome, a more sinister character. But no, his woman was Judith and she became the symbol a woman who is both sexual and respected. I love her unapologetic vibes and I was so excited to make this costume.