Hathor on Base

Title: Hathor on Base, Artist: Bernice Troskie, 2025. Oil Paint on Stretched Canvas, 80cm x 40cm x 2cm

This Artwork is part of the “Beeste” or “Cattle” exhibition running during the month of November at the JVH Art Gallery.

Hathor is one of the oldest deities in the Egyptian pantheon, and one could dare say (by other names) the human race. She is a symbol of peace, tranquillity, prosperity, nurturing, fertility, music, art; an essence and image of our softer selves personified perhaps. A side we associated with Cattle, who bore on their back, and in their bodies, our ability to build civilizations.

When the exhibition invite was made, The artist found herself thinking about the ancient link our species has with cattle. the meaning that the creature has had heaped on it’s back are endless. Wealth, fertility and worship are all elements of this, one of the oldest domesticated species on the planet, one of our first artistic subjects. Unlike goats; cows and sheep need us, have been bred by us to serve certain needs, and are therefore owed our care.

As we move away from the inhuman large scale cattle farming and back towards considering the needs of other species, we are once more revealing our link to something greater than mere survival. We are finding our connections to the natural world once more, and if it happens fast enough, it may just be our salvation.