Aqua Tofana

Ink. Have you heard of Aqua Tofana? The dark story of the potion from real Italian history has long beguiled, as it’s a true story of feminine (and some say darkly feminist) mass poisoning! A 17th century black widow secret society, wielding an arsenic-based poison, sold by 3 generations of murderous bitches, successfully killed around … Read more

The Shivers

Ink. The Boy Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was: a darkly comedic Grimm fairytale.

Mad Tea Party

Watercolor. Tea, lemon, honey, & more than just a splash of something else. Hanae Rivera.

The Poison Book

Oil pastel on paper. “The Story of the Grecian King and the Physician Douban,” from One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights). Beware jealousy, teachery, devious visiers and, especially, killer books. Or, no great deed goes unpunished. Hanae Rivera.

Baron Samedi

(detail) Oil pastel and collage. Baron Samedi of Haitian Vodou, spirit (Lwa) of the dead. Hanae Rivera.

Circe’s Cup

Oil pastel on paper. “Who knows not Circe, The daughter of the Sun, whose charmed cup Whoever tasted, lost his upright shape, And downward fell into a groveling swine?”(John Milton, Comus). One of the most enduringly fascinating women of myth, who delighted in turning men to beasts but was in turn fascinated by Odysseus. Hanae … Read more