-Leila Kubba-

Spoken shadows

Spoken Shadows is a series of mixed media paintings inspired by the Sumerian Goddess Inanna. She was once the primary deity of ancient Mesopotamia, now present day Iraq. Four thousand years later, she exists only in archaeological fragments: in the ancient cuneiform of clay tablets, the eroded face of an old statue, or expired glory of an old Sumerian shrine or temple.

The story of Inanna, as deciphered by Sumerian scholars, tells of her journey from girlhood to womanhood, from queen of heaven and earth to a long time inhabitant of the underworld. As a young girl she planted a tree by the Euphrates river, a symbol of life and birth. When evil spirits came to deter her, the heroic king Gilgamesh joined with her to fight against evil , later carving a crown and throne from the wood of the tree she planted as a girl. At the height of her sovereignty she was mysteriously persuaded to descend into the underworld, where she suffered in the dark kingdom and finally emerged humbled and wreathed by symbols of death.