In this artwork, how is the abstract discussed?
God Giving Birth is a 1968 painting by the Swedish artist Monica Sjöö. It shows a nude woman whose face is half dark and half light, with the head of a child emerging from her birth canal. Sjöö was an exponent of second-wave feminism and the Goddess movement. During the birth of her second son, she had inner visions that made her view motherhood in a religious light, and this inspired her to paint God Giving Birth.
First exhibited in the United Kingdom in 1970 and 1973, God Giving Birth drew criticism from Christian groups who accused it of blasphemy. It has been discussed by modern pagans as a religious image and among feminist scholars for its way of connecting spiritual and physical creation. It is in the collection of the Museum Anna Nordlander in Skellefteå, Sweden.
modern pagans second-wave feminism Museum Anna Nordlander Monica Sjöö Skellefteå feminist blasphemy Goddess movement