Deu Sex Bellatrix

Aaron Sheppard

83 x 42 x 45″

Mixed Media with carved wood

“Deu Sex Bellatrix” is a monument to women’s power, a fusion of mythological sirens and warrior queens, sculpted from raw, elemental materials. These mermaid figures do not exist in the realm of delicate fantasy—they are fortresses of identity, resilience, and defiance, confronting each other in an almost ritualistic exchange.

The juxtaposition of materials speaks to the collision of natural and constructed identities—smooth mannequin torsos clash against the rugged texture of carved wooden tails, a reminder that these figures are both sirens and soldiers, myth and muscle. The layered, scale-like carvings root them in the deep, while their poised upper bodies—one painted in midnight black, inscribed with cryptic symbols, the other in stark flesh tones dripping with teal—suggest figures who have endured history, transformation, and battle. Their heads, adorned with massive, organic headdresses, are confrontational spectacles of growth and excess.

One is a crown of twisted coral, hardened foam, or calcified matter, an overwhelming presence of nature overtaking form. The other—crowned with sprawling horns and fleshy protrusions—evokes the mythic image of a warrior priestess, an entity steeped in ritual and raw instinct. Their encounter is charged with tension, strength, and an almost divine confrontation, as if these figures are locked in an eternal dialogue of power, dominance, and survival.