Circe’s Cavern: The Jewel in the Abyss

Leslie Kiefer

Curated by Gaby Mizes

September 3rd - September 27th, 2025

My work explores ambiguous grief; loss without the finality of death or closure. Through personal and metaphoric storytelling, I examine enduring life changes: aging, disability of a loved one, and loss of self. I embrace the fluidity of identity and existence. In my latest work, I explore the ideas of Metamorphosis and its uses, both natural and supernatural. Metamorphoses in Greek mythology was often used to explain events that were not easily understood; the shapeshifting brought about by supernatural means or magic. The gods transformed a human into a plant or animal to punish or protect the person.

Fleeing the attentions of Apollo, Daphne, was changed into a laurel tree. While the girl Daphne was lost, the laurel tree remained to become a symbol of victory in Greek culture. As punishment for boastfulness, the goddess Athena transformed Medusa into a vicious creature with snakes for hair, an evil and vengeful character. Caves often serve as sacred spaces and portals for transformation. The darkness and echoey sound encouraged rituals and worship, trust and betrayal, birth and rebirth.

I have chosen Circe as my starting point as she was both betrayed and betrayer, magical transformer of men into pigs, beautiful seducer of Odysseus and finally, savior of his life. The images in this exhibition begin with the idea of metamorphoses: the snake sheds its skin to be born again, the oyster becomes a jewel, the shoe turns into a garden, a leaf becomes a forest. As we grow and age, we ourselves turn into different beings, changed by learning and experience, joy and grief, the cycle of life, death and regeneration. The journey of the soul leads to enlightenment and acceptance; you are the jewel in the abyss.