leda and the swan [femme revenge redux], 2021.

Leda and the Swan is a classic Greek myth in which Zeus, infatuated with the beautiful Leda, comes down from Mount Olympus in the form of a swan to rape her. Many artistic depictions of this fairy tale, including those by Michelangelo and Correggio, replicate this narrative of sexual assault, which is a common theme in Greek myth and common occurrence in the world today.
I wanted to reimagine Leda and the Swan after the recent attacks against Asian women in Atlanta, which were carried out by a white man who blamed the women he killed for his sex addiction. As an Asian person who is often read and treated as a woman, I am sick to death of men feeling so violently entitled to our bodies, to our love, and to our selves. Too often this entitlement results in terrible grief. I am grieving today, and enraged also for my sisters who have lost their lives to men like Robert Long.
I wanted to make something about agency, and about taking power back. For this project I drew Leda snapping the neck of the swan [read: Zeus] before he has the chance to hurt her.