This artwork is part of our Sydney Contemporary 2024 presentation, exhibiting at Carriageworks 5-8 September.

Aleisa Miksad’s latest body of work titled The Raving Ones recasts mythological figures to challenge historical perceptions, centring the female as an agent of her own desires. Dionysius, the Greek god of ritual madness, was the subject of his loyal female devotees – maenads, or ‘the raving ones’. Aleisa repositions and empowers these ‘mad’ women as deities – empowered and untamed. Sheathed in animal pelts, this cult of strong women devoured Dionysius’ body and blood through the ritualistic sacrifice of his symbolic beasts.

Aleisa’s ceramic vessels represent this cult of women through the armoured application of moulded ceramic faces. By recasting the faces multiple times Aleisa creates the perception of anonymity freeing the subjects of their inhibitions. The larger faces on the amphora are enveloped and protected by the spikes – a reference to the carved stone votives placed within ancient walls as offerings to the Greek gods.