O’er Ladie’s Lips, Who Straight On Kisses Dream
The title of the print O’er Ladies’ Lips Who Straight on Kisses Dream refers to a line from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The next line of te play reads “Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues/Because their breath with sweetmeats tainted are.” This gives a further clue to the meaning of the work. Mab is a Celtic fairy queen who, like the Nkonde, can either bring good fortune or affliction. According to Shakespearean scholars, the blisters noted are an obvious reference to Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV-1), the type of herpes that attacks the mouth. Although often thought of as a modern scourge, herpes (from the Greek word meaning “to creep”) has been around world wide for eons. The virus comes in many forms and cannot be eradicated from the body once it has found entry.
In this print, an aggressive demanding central figure sits on a large ball. The ball, designed from sample photographs taken by cryo-electron microscopy and image reconstruction, represents the virus. The flower-like formations of the microscopic images of the virus contrast with the unsightly sores that appear on the skin. The various forms of the disease in which it can manifest itself are represented by the motley crew behind the central figure. The zippers suggest the most infamous form of Herpes (HSV-2), the genital variety. Some 55 million Americans carry this form of the virus.
