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To honour Deborah Bell's monumental bronze sculpture Artemis and her Dogs, first conceptualised almost 30 years ago, Bell discusses the inspirations and history behind the work.

Deborah Bell, Artemis and her Dogs, Edition 5 of 6, bronze, 380 x 280 x 120 cm

“As a student studying art history, I had always been drawn to the painting by Titian called The Death of Actaeon. Titian depicts the goddess Diana (the Roman name for the Greek goddess Artemis) striding forward, left arm outstretched holding the bow in front of her, whilst her right arm is bent and her hand relaxed in the release of the arrow she has just shot Actaeon with.

This arrow had pierced Actaeon who was spying on her nakedness and turned him into a stag which in a sense revealed his animal nature and provoked his own hunting dogs to attack him.

Titian’s image of Artemis forever striding forward - one arm bent, the other reaching forward with purpose into the future, became a symbol that I have used many times over the years.

Titian, The Death of Actaeon, oil on canvas, 178.4 cm × 198.1 cm

In 1995 I made three paintings based on images from Titian depicting women in different states. States of desperation and longing, and in the figure of Artemis, moving forward in strength with focus and intent. She became the symbol of what I wanted to be.

In the late 1990s, I branched out from being a painter to make sculpture. And I always had the knowing that one day I would represent Artemis in this form. This took 10 years to realise. I had moved out to the countryside and finally had the space to create large sculpture. I was on my own, self-sufficient and bringing up two children. I now had agency.

In 2009, I made a small clay work of Artemis (which I called Diana to honour Titian). However, I knew I needed to create her on a monumental scale ….. she had to be tall, she had to be strong …… her legs had to have the power of strong tree trunks, and her one arm needed to stretch forward as her arrow. She had to have focus and knowingness - her eyes closed with an inner vision.

Deborah Bell, Diana, 2010-11, bronze, 42 x 35 x 35 cm

For some reason, unlike Titian, I now placed her bow in her bent back right arm - her hand relaxed and her bow unstrung. Her left arm pointed forward as her arrow in focus, and her eyes were closed. She was guided by an inner knowing. Now looking back at what I made then, I can see some sense to these decisions which I was unaware of at the time. Her relaxed hand now holding the bow shows more acceptance than agency. Similarly, the bow is unstrung. It is no longer meant to be a weapon ….. instead it reaches up to the Sky and down to the Earth - and for me, this represents the spiritual and the material - As Above, So Below.

As I was building her in my outside sculpture studio, my three Great Dane dogs milled around at the base of my ladder. I then knew that they had to be part of the story.

I envisioned them sprinting forward in front of her, symbolising her arrows of intent. They were no longer the dogs of Actaeon, but rather the hounds associated with one of the other moon goddesses - Hecate. I recently researched what they symbolised and found out that they represented Hecate’s dominion over death. And whilst the shape of their bodies relates to my Great Danes, their ears are smaller, more like the ears of Anubis. And Anubis symbolises power over life and death and one of his roles is guiding souls to the afterlife.

The dogs in my work can be seen both as guides and protectors in the physical and spiritual. They move between realms.

Artemis (or Diana) became a symbol for me of an inner power as a woman. And then around 2016, I started being drawn to more nurturing feminine archetypes.

I thought I was finished with Artemis, and in 2018 I made a large painting called Farewell Artemis. This time I depicted her without bow and arrow stepping out of the picture looking back at figures silhouetted in a landscape reminiscent of the Tankwa Karoo in South Africa which I love. I had no idea at the time that this prefigured my leaving South Africa.

Deborah Bell, Farewell Artemis (Triptych), mixed media on paper, 150 x 130 cm

However, I needed her courage and strength to do that. Artemis is still with me, she is representative of a larger sense of self, the part of me that strides forward into the Unknown.

Artemis is the warrior woman, the huntress - bow in hand, forever striding forward. Her arrows arc into the future. She has great purpose, and I can see that as an archetype she has helped me travel far.”

Bell’s work is represented in public and private collections around the world including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Smithsonian Institute and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, the Gloria Steinem Foundation, the Hara Museum, Tokyo and the IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town.

She has collaborated on artistic projects with fellow artists including William Kentridge and the late Robert Hodgins.

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