Chthonic Ode confronts the enduring influence of patriarchal power on the representation of women in Western literature, art, and cultural memory. Rooted in the Greek myth of the Rape of Persephone, the work reclaims female agency through a radical reimagining of a narrative long shaped by themes of vulnerability and subjugation. In doing so, it re-centers Persephone as a figure of autonomy, resilience, and transformation—illuminating a latent power long embedded within her story.

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The immersive environment of video and sound invites viewers into a liminal space where ancient myth converges with contemporary experience. Moving images span across projections, multiplying the body and challenging the singular, static gaze of traditional art forms. Olivia Maday embodies Persephone through on-screen performance, evoking the cyclical forces of life, death, and rebirth. Through expressive movement and selective visibility, she asserts control over her own image, disrupting conventions of voyeurism while foregrounding female pleasure.

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The interplay between beauty and the grotesque becomes a method of disruption, unraveling visual legacies that have long reduced female bodies to objects of passive consumption. By drawing from and subverting these traditions, Chthonic Ode transforms them into a potent language of resistance—reclaiming Persephone’s story on her own terms.