So happy to finally share this piece I worked on for the Aromantic Experiences Zine project organized by @morb1dcan1d!
The illustration is a redraw of a baroque painting, Diana Returning from the Hunt by Peter Paul Rubens. I had been thinking a lot about how historic and religious celibacy or abstinence from romance (or sex) is seen as sacrificial, when it could have just been gathering of people who would likely fall under the aro umbrella, just living life.
Diana/Artemis was a hunting goddess in the Greco-roman pantheon and her iconography would often show her accompanied by nymphs on a hunt. For Diana, the Hunt took precedence over romance, and companionship meant partnership within a hunting party. She primarily uses a bow, and 'Arrowmantic' is supposed to be a pun on that.
I got so invested into this idea that I decided to make a whole series out of redrawing mythological beings in classical paintings and colouring them with pride flag colours. More to come!
The Aromantic Experiences Zine features works of 23 aro creatives and I'm so proud to be one of the people who could contribute to this phenomenal project.
You can download a pdf version of the Zine here -
A zine containing works written by a group of aromantic people. There is barely any representation for this peculiar identity, and finding c