Encaustic on wood panel «Sunflower. Helios flower»

Yulia Mamontova
«Sunflower. Helios flower»
2020
Encaustic on wood panel
39,3” х 47,2”
Painting was shown at the exhibition «Floral myths of Hellas», Russian Art Museum in Moscow (Russia, August. 2020).

Description

In Latin, the sunflower is called the word Helianthus derived from Greek: “Helios” means “sun,” and “anthos” is translated as a flower. Greek mythology tells about the appearance of this flower: Nymph Clitius fell in love with the sun god Helios. So much so that for days she sat on the ground and watched the sun. But Helios never noticed her. The gods of Olympus regretted the nymph and turned it into sunflowers. Her legs became the stem of the flower, her face turned into a flower surrounded by golden hair petals. Even in the shape of a sunflower, Clitius continues to look at his lover, so the flower of the sunflower always turns the head towards the sun.