BAUBO

In the face of despair,

she lifts her skirt

and tells dirty jokes.

In front of guilt, shame, hatred,

she lifts her skirt

and shows her wondrous labia.

In the face of lost, grief, loneliness,

she offers her prickly kunt

and the comfort

of the raucous smacking

of her parietal vulva.

Baubo is an archaic figure who sees through her tits and speaks through her vagina. Her lewd jesting raises Demeter from her prostration and restores life on Earth. She is part of ancient women mysteries, which include ana-suromai (lifting of the skirt) and aischrologia (obscene humor.)

To honor female genitals in all their sensations and shapes, the Baubo paintings use semi-precious stones as pigments: garnet for the blood red, rhodonite for the bright pink, and black tourmaline for the rich greys.