Art of Monica Miller

Central Library | 2nd Floor Display

Persephone through Hades

A Ceramic Retelling by Monica Miller

The Myth

The maiden Persephone was picking flowers when the earth cracked open and she was taken by Hades to the underworld. Her mother Demeter, goddess of the harvest, searched endlessly for her daughter and made the earth barren in her grief. When the order came to return Persephone, Hades agreed but stealthily gave Persephone pomegranate seeds to eat. Because she ate the fruit of the underworld, Persephone was forever tied to both worlds and became an enduring symbol of the cycles of death and rebirth. Every year Persephone rules as queen of the underworld for fall and winter and is reunited with her mother for spring and summer.

The Series

This series is an abstract exploration of the feminine journey into the depths of herself, the decomposition of the former self, the seductive qualities of remaining underground, and the triumphant ascension of the predestined queen. Hades, a conduit of transformation, is represented in the snarled and chaotic roots. Persephone’s journey is represented in the flower - once small and contained in her own world but ultimately reborn into her complex and wild glory. The queen is made possible through her duality and intimate knowledge of things unseen.

Hades, a conduit of transformation, is represented in the snarled and chaotic roots. Persephone’s journey is represented in the flower — once small and contained in her own world but ultimately reborn into her complex and wild glory. The queen is made possible through her duality and intimate knowledge of things unseen.

About Monica Miller

Monica was born and raised outside Chicago and received her BFA in Industrial Design from the University of Illinois. For the last 15 years, she has worked professionally as a product and tech designer with a focus on functional, human-centered solutions. But when she stumbled upon a local ceramics studio, she was taken back to a childhood love for clay and the freedom of making things from a place of personal joy and curiosity.