Omphale, comes from the Greek word omphalos, which means navel. I painted the outside to echo the wings of a male Prepona Omphale butterfly. The inside of the sculpture expresses the Queen’s amorous feelings about Hercules.
Omphale Queen of Lydia kept Hercules as a slave for two years and during that time the strongest man in the world did whatever his Queen asked: he dressed up in women’s clothes, worked at a spinning wheel. They had two children together.
A book made from animal hide similar to Hercules’s garment is affixed to the back of the sculpture. Inside there are love poems and a story about Pan’s visit to Omphale’s castle.
Eros is a young, vital man who is out and about looking for love. He is not in the nurturing love phase of his life, nor in a domestic love phase, but swimming in the bliss of searching. His breastplate is blue, like the Hindu god Lord Rama's, an avatar of Vishnu, who also carries a bow and arrow.