Busy, detail-oriented and inexhaustible, the Virgos in our lives make every moment feel urgent and vibrant. Today marks the beginning of their zodiac season, and Gonzalo Adrian Battaglia’s block print Virgo celebrates their nature in its simplest form.
As the sixth in his 12-print Figural Series: Zodiac, Battaglia represents the sign that heralds harvests throughout the northern hemisphere as a feminine figure, in honor of the goddess of agriculture. He draws on Sandro Botticelli’s 15th century masterpiece Birth of Venus, who modestly shields herself from the forces of nature that brought her forth from the sea.
To create it, he first drew the whole image on a linoleum plate, and then used a combination of traditional and rotary tools to painstakingly carve around the lines. “The carved plate does not look like the intended image,” he said. “So the most gratifying part of the process comes after the printing, when I peel off the paper from the printing plate and a finished image emerges.”
The end result is a comical, dramatic and iconic interpretation of one of our favorite Earth signs. As for the Virgo in your life, Astrology.com says that the next four weeks offer the best opportunity to assert themselves, and to pour energy into the plans and projects that are meaningful to them.
Image: “Virgo” by Gonzalo Adrian Battaglia; Miami, Florida, 2016.
