Allie Bernhard


THE THREE WISE WOMEN 
A sculptural representation of female equality and wisdom in historically male-dominated spaces and depictions. The Three Wise Women statue reminds us that women have always existed, even in eras when wisdom, strength, and greatness were attributed only to men.

The goal of this project was to alter an original statue to create and reinterpret one with new meaning.  
Project




The Three Wise Women reimagines a pre-existing statue of Athena through a feminist lens. Inspired by observing various depictions of the Adoration of the Magi in Florence, Italy, and the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, Athena. These influences were merged to challenge the traditional male portrayal of wisdom by transforming the biblical story of the Three Wise Men into a symbolic female counterpart, celebrating women’s wisdom and equality.








Digital CAD:





Located a scanned 3D STL of the Athena of Minerva statue. Overlapped this 3D scan three times in descending height to mimic the imagery of the Three Wise Men queue in Renaissance paintings of Adoration of the Magi.





Sliced the completed digital statue to fit into the CNC. Statue milled from pink polystyrene foam.





Once milled, the pieces were glued together, and sanded to bring forth every detail. The statue was then painted grey to portray the antiquity of the original statue. 








Inspiration:




Adoration of the Magi
Gentile da Fabriano, 1423
Adoration of the Magi
Giovanni di Paolo, 1450