I became interested in the idea of the muse in art and culture and of Michelle
Philips as representing a decade’s vision of a mother and a mother nature figure as one of the
“Mamas” in The Mamas & The Papas. Her story weaves through so many of the narratives of
the 1960s, within six degrees of separation from nearly every American cultural figure of her
time as well as nefarious figures including the Manson Family and the Hodel family (of the
suspected Black Dahlia murders). Like Eartha, Michelle Obama and Marilyn she embodies an
American ideal of rising up from meager beginnings. The source photograph from this image
reminded me of images of historic Renaissance female saints as well as goddesses in her
statuesque pose, hand gesture, her billowing kaftan and her far away gaze. The ambiguous
poodle she holds becomes a kind of attribute. This is in contrast to the steely determination
implied throughout her biography.