Mal Martel {Fine Erotic Art}
Painted Terracotta Vase
"Greco-Amazon Orgy"
This vase painting is a continuation of the theme in the dry-point print of the same title. The terracotta vase is a bought object on which Ceramicoat paint was applied in the style of the ancient Red Attic Figure vases of Classical Greece. The figures are the negative spaces which take on the hue of the clay surface. Some pigments in pink, cream and gold were applied to accentuate the physique of some of the Amazons. The theme here is the anti-narrative of the relief sculptures found in the Temple of Apollo in Bassae. Instead of the Amazons (who represented all the "weak" enemies of ancient Greece) being defeated by ancient Greek warriors, the two groups are aroused by each other's fighting prowess and thus engage in an orgy which ensured the survival of the human race.