Foráil Seirce/Abundance of Love, 2024
Artist: True Whiting
About the Artwork: This painting depicts The Dream of Aoghus Óg of Irish mythology. Aoghus Ó was the son of Daghda and Boann (goddess of the River Boyne). Aoghus Óg is the god of love. As the god of love, everyone loved Aoghus Óg. Because of that, he never knew longing—until one night, a woman of great magic and beauty came to him in his dreams. Night after night, they spent together for a year and a day. Each night his dreams were filled with her and their love, and in the morning she would be gone when he woke. Then one night, without warning, she did not come. Nor the next night nor the next. Another year and a day passed, and still, she did not return to him. Aoghus Óg was heart sick and could barely go on. Beside herself with concern for her son, the goddess Boann set out a search across the land for her son’s beloved. The search lasted a year, but the maiden was found by the Lake of the Dragons Mouth and she had taken the form of a swan. Her name was Cáer, and she was the daughter of a powerful Druid. She explained to Aoghus Óg that she loved him and wanted to be with him as well, but for the time being, she a swan. With that, Aoghus Óg turned himself into a swan, and the lovers flew to his palace on the River Boyne singing music together that so beautiful that anyone who heard it fell asleep for three days and nights. This is the 1st work in the series, Face of the Goddess: Medicine paintings through the portal of old Irish, which explores Irish language and mythology of the sacred feminine.
This series is made possible by an Artist Support Grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, the Arts Council of Greater Greensboro and the Winston Salem Arts Council.
Media: Acrylic on birch panel
Dimensions: 30” wide by 30” tall
Framed: No
