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Goddesses
Slipcase with Velcro closure, 20 blank folded cards (5 images repeating 4 times), 20 envelopes
74 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1981
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 1, 2026
very boob forward art
December 26, 2020
You can't rush through this little book. You could. However, going slow and savoring each plate is blissful. Each print faces a short description of: the goddess, a piece of folklore or anecdote. I ask, Why do I love a particular print so much? It could be the colors, the detail, the stylized flowers, water, skies, the symbolism, the visual narrative - but always it's, at the center, the strong thighed woman, with round arms, delicate feet and hands - conquering and moving through some adventure, moving through her space with her cheeks ever pink, her breasts and nipples ever firm; always looking out at the world in beauty and with serenity.
I remember the first time I saw Mayumi Oda's work in a gallery in Berkley right off of University in the late 70s. I had never seen work I enjoyed this much. At the time my love of her work was about the Goddesses, the women and the fanciful, playfulness of her work. I was familiar with Joan Brown and artists from Berkeley but never a lone, commercial woman artist. I was very intrigued. I was also fascinated to read in her bio at the beginning of the book that she lived near/at Green Gulch, the Zen Center in Marin. I had grown up close by and have meditated at the center ... and done many hikes in the area. So besides her reminding me of my Mother, who thought of herself as a Buddhist, there are many reasons for feeling a kinship with this artist.
This book has Mayumi Oda's biography listed from 1966 thru one show in 1981 (which makes sense, as the book was published in 1981). I think it's important to know that Mayumi has more comprehensive lists online for shows (at least through 2019), books, and they are all more comprehensive. Mayumi Oda is 79. She has a wonderful online website and this book is still found online.
I remember the first time I saw Mayumi Oda's work in a gallery in Berkley right off of University in the late 70s. I had never seen work I enjoyed this much. At the time my love of her work was about the Goddesses, the women and the fanciful, playfulness of her work. I was familiar with Joan Brown and artists from Berkeley but never a lone, commercial woman artist. I was very intrigued. I was also fascinated to read in her bio at the beginning of the book that she lived near/at Green Gulch, the Zen Center in Marin. I had grown up close by and have meditated at the center ... and done many hikes in the area. So besides her reminding me of my Mother, who thought of herself as a Buddhist, there are many reasons for feeling a kinship with this artist.
This book has Mayumi Oda's biography listed from 1966 thru one show in 1981 (which makes sense, as the book was published in 1981). I think it's important to know that Mayumi has more comprehensive lists online for shows (at least through 2019), books, and they are all more comprehensive. Mayumi Oda is 79. She has a wonderful online website and this book is still found online.
January 9, 2025
Beautiful book of goddess paintings by a strong feminist teacher. I totally enjoyed this book and struggled at first with the artworks but found understanding.
I would certainly recommend this book to most, women especially. I look forward to reading Mz Odas autobiography
I would certainly recommend this book to most, women especially. I look forward to reading Mz Odas autobiography
November 9, 2014
Manjusuri:
Manjusuri is the perfect wisdom Bodhisattva, usually depicted with a sword. This feminine Manjusri carries a sutra as a symbol of clarity.
In a Japanese Buddhist tradition Majusuri was depicted as a young, smart boy who was just a bit arrogant. He is one of my favorite deities because of his youthfulness and sharp tongue. I often wondered what it would be like if he were she. In our tradition, there are so few female images of deities. It is up to us to create our own. I borrowed the flamboyant style of the turn-of-the century bicycle poster. I think people at that time treated the bicycle as a symbol of the wheel of liberation."
Sea Goddess:
Kanoko Okamoto, the novelist, was born on the banks of the Tama River late in the 19th Century. In her novel The Wheel of Life, a woman named Choko (child of butterfly) abandoned her home and her lover and became a beggar drifting down the river, until finally she is swept into a vast sea called Life. For Kanoko Okamoto, both the river and the sea represented the vast power of womanhood. She wrote: The river is bountiful, as though nourished by an inexhaustible breast; The river empties into a vast sea enfolding everything, never ending."
Victorian Inventions:
"Nearly all the inventions we use in our everyday life date from the last half of the 19th century: typewriter, phonograph, automobile, train, etc. The kind of lonely struggle these inventors went through must have been extraordinary. I can feel the excitement and the disappointment they must have felt, and admire their persistence in making their dreams a reality... I have a book called Victorian Invention, by Leonard De Vries, in which I found a picture of an aerial cycle. Among all the other incredible inventions, someone actually tried to make an aerial cycle, and to our disappointment did not succeed. I feel it is very important to insist on our dreams."
"The reason that I could not become completely involved in women's liberation during the sixties and seventies was that I found that their attitude was to blame men and society. Society has mistreated women for many thousands of years. I felt men themselves were mistreated too. Rather than blaming the problem on others, we can find our resources and our strength in ourselves."
"It was in that dim basement beneath the deep Boston snow that I began silk-screen prints of women in exorbitant color. Working there in my basement, I del that I had reclaimed myself. The women's liberation movement was just beginning in those days, and everyone was full of excitement and energy. Women felt victimized by men and society, and they were angry. I was angry, too. But the experience of giving birth and raising children and being an artist at the same time made me realize my own strength and the potential power of all women. Deep inside me a voice was saying, 'We are strong; we must only realize our own strength.'"
"All my life I have been seeking liberation, but from what? I felt I didn't know. I began reading in Japanese again, and discovered two women writers, Raicho Hiratsuka and Kanoko Okamoto, who became very important to me. Both were Buddhists, and both had discovered through Buddhist practice a source of vital power within themselves whig they identified as a long-forgotten female vitality and strength—the creative power of Primeval Woman. Raicho Hiratsuko wrote in 1911 for the introduction of a new feminist magazine called SEITO, which means Blue Stockings, from the English feminist movement:
'In primeval times, women were one with the sun and the truth of all-being.
Now we are like pale-faced moons who depend on others and reflect their light.
Women, please let your own sun, your concentrated energy, your own submerged
authentic vital power shine out from you.'"
"Living my own way for the first time, my life begins at last to make sense to me."
"I needed a vision that would give me power to live and to create... Without creating art, I couldn't be myself.. I needed to see myself as positive and strong. Through creating Goddesses, I became stronger. Art was a means for survival. Goddesses are a projection of myself, my desire and my dreams. They help me to see who I am and who I want to be. Through my creative process, I have been creating myself."
"The name 'volcano' was the symbol of the re-emergence of the Goddesses...Goddesses have had to sleep for thousands of years."
"I want all of us to have the legs of Goddesses to firmly root us to this earth. Earth is crying for her recovery."
Samantabhadra:
"Samantabhadra is the shining practice Bodhisattva. She turns meditation into action an dream into reality. We tend to think there is someone out there to help us do this, but unfolding the path completely depends on ourselves. When we become Samantabhadra herself we can freely ride this wheel of dharma and receive wonderful support from people, friends, and teachers."
Manjusuri is the perfect wisdom Bodhisattva, usually depicted with a sword. This feminine Manjusri carries a sutra as a symbol of clarity.
In a Japanese Buddhist tradition Majusuri was depicted as a young, smart boy who was just a bit arrogant. He is one of my favorite deities because of his youthfulness and sharp tongue. I often wondered what it would be like if he were she. In our tradition, there are so few female images of deities. It is up to us to create our own. I borrowed the flamboyant style of the turn-of-the century bicycle poster. I think people at that time treated the bicycle as a symbol of the wheel of liberation."
Sea Goddess:
Kanoko Okamoto, the novelist, was born on the banks of the Tama River late in the 19th Century. In her novel The Wheel of Life, a woman named Choko (child of butterfly) abandoned her home and her lover and became a beggar drifting down the river, until finally she is swept into a vast sea called Life. For Kanoko Okamoto, both the river and the sea represented the vast power of womanhood. She wrote: The river is bountiful, as though nourished by an inexhaustible breast; The river empties into a vast sea enfolding everything, never ending."
Victorian Inventions:
"Nearly all the inventions we use in our everyday life date from the last half of the 19th century: typewriter, phonograph, automobile, train, etc. The kind of lonely struggle these inventors went through must have been extraordinary. I can feel the excitement and the disappointment they must have felt, and admire their persistence in making their dreams a reality... I have a book called Victorian Invention, by Leonard De Vries, in which I found a picture of an aerial cycle. Among all the other incredible inventions, someone actually tried to make an aerial cycle, and to our disappointment did not succeed. I feel it is very important to insist on our dreams."
"The reason that I could not become completely involved in women's liberation during the sixties and seventies was that I found that their attitude was to blame men and society. Society has mistreated women for many thousands of years. I felt men themselves were mistreated too. Rather than blaming the problem on others, we can find our resources and our strength in ourselves."
"It was in that dim basement beneath the deep Boston snow that I began silk-screen prints of women in exorbitant color. Working there in my basement, I del that I had reclaimed myself. The women's liberation movement was just beginning in those days, and everyone was full of excitement and energy. Women felt victimized by men and society, and they were angry. I was angry, too. But the experience of giving birth and raising children and being an artist at the same time made me realize my own strength and the potential power of all women. Deep inside me a voice was saying, 'We are strong; we must only realize our own strength.'"
"All my life I have been seeking liberation, but from what? I felt I didn't know. I began reading in Japanese again, and discovered two women writers, Raicho Hiratsuka and Kanoko Okamoto, who became very important to me. Both were Buddhists, and both had discovered through Buddhist practice a source of vital power within themselves whig they identified as a long-forgotten female vitality and strength—the creative power of Primeval Woman. Raicho Hiratsuko wrote in 1911 for the introduction of a new feminist magazine called SEITO, which means Blue Stockings, from the English feminist movement:
'In primeval times, women were one with the sun and the truth of all-being.
Now we are like pale-faced moons who depend on others and reflect their light.
Women, please let your own sun, your concentrated energy, your own submerged
authentic vital power shine out from you.'"
"Living my own way for the first time, my life begins at last to make sense to me."
"I needed a vision that would give me power to live and to create... Without creating art, I couldn't be myself.. I needed to see myself as positive and strong. Through creating Goddesses, I became stronger. Art was a means for survival. Goddesses are a projection of myself, my desire and my dreams. They help me to see who I am and who I want to be. Through my creative process, I have been creating myself."
"The name 'volcano' was the symbol of the re-emergence of the Goddesses...Goddesses have had to sleep for thousands of years."
"I want all of us to have the legs of Goddesses to firmly root us to this earth. Earth is crying for her recovery."
Samantabhadra:
"Samantabhadra is the shining practice Bodhisattva. She turns meditation into action an dream into reality. We tend to think there is someone out there to help us do this, but unfolding the path completely depends on ourselves. When we become Samantabhadra herself we can freely ride this wheel of dharma and receive wonderful support from people, friends, and teachers."
January 22, 2019
Beautiful collection of art in this book. I recently learned about Mayumi’s work and had the pleasure of meeting her in person. I am feeling so inspired and moved by woman power right now. Such a perfect read for women’s march weekend.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews