Bilge Friedlaender (Turkish American, 1934-2000) Cedar Forest, 1989 Nine freestanding handmade linen paper sculptures, variable dims: 34 in. (86.36 cm) ©Mira Friedlaender. All rights reserved. Courtesy The Estate of Bilge Friedlaender.

In the series of works about Gilgamesh, which included handmade paper sculptures Cedar Forest (1989), Friedlaender exposed the story of the Sumerian king cutting the sacred cedar forest in quest for fame. She questioned the myth of the male hero, and reclaimed a female Goddess, Ishtar, as a metaphor for “the awakening of female consciousness.”