Staircase Gallery at Tree of Liminality

Artist Statement

The Woman on Fire series depicts nude female figures, each a beacon of light in the dark. The figure’s expression is still and serene but, the flames emanating from her reflect a dynamic, destructive power.  She cradles a human heart in her hands. The heart, where we feel pain, loss and suffering but, also love, peace, and where our power resides.  

The Painting of Woman on Fire, No. 1 began in the moments after I heard the results of the 2024 presidential election.  Painted on a blank wall in my studio, this acrylic mural reflects my response as woman and a survivor of sexual violence to that moment.  In a world where news of horrific violence is played out on our screens daily, it confronts a hard truth, that ultimately silence does not protect women, but reinforces a system that is by design racist and misogynistic. 

The figure in Woman on Fire, No. 1, evokes the comic book heroines of the 80’s. Figures like Phoenix and Storm from the X-Men, idealized the female form while giving them immense powers.  The super heroines of my youth became the Goddesses of my adulthood.  The figure in Woman on Fire, No. 3 is inspired by the paleolithic female figurine, the Venus of Willendorf, the oldest known depiction of the female form.  

If super heroines and goddesses represent the icon, then this series explores the creation of the iconoclast from the icon. It reflects on the immense power of the feminine outside of the norms and values that we have assigned to that gender.  Instead it focuses on the resilience, power and agency that of everyday women possess and how those women are using this moment to challenge the social contract.

Artist Bio

Rebecca Goulder is a mixed-media artist who grew up in a small town in Northern Michigan and moved to the Puget Sound Region of Washington State after graduation from High School.  She would go on to study photography, painting and sculpture at Central Michigan University.  She has worked as a caregiver, bath aide, paralegal, professional framer, house cleaner and gardener to support herself.  Rebecca currently lives and makes work in Northern Michigan. 

She chose mixed-media for versatility in output, but also because the act of switching between methods, gives her the ability to use different parts of her brain while creating.  Both her 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional work focus on themes of nature, justice, empowerment and humanism.  

~ Rebecca Goulder, May 2026