How The Cadillac Goddess Found New Life For The Celestiq: Video

The forthcoming Cadillac Celestiq represents the luxury marque’s future in the electric vehicle era, but that doesn’t mean that Cadillac has completely turned its back on the past. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, as the Celestiq has resurrected the Goddess, a motif included in Cadillac vehicles built in the 1930s through mid-1950s. The luxury marque recently disclosed the process by which the Goddess was reborn for the ultra-luxury EV. 

The hands of sculptor Richard Wiquist are responsible for the latest iteration of the Goddess, which depicts a woman dressed in flowing robes with her arms outstretched behind her. Other variations of the same design have graced Caddy vehicles throughout the decades, from the classic motif bearing similarity to today’s designs to the 1950s, when the Goddess took on a more abstract Jet-age-inspired form. Now, though, she has pivoted back to her original 1930s design.

“Reimagining the Goddess was a beautiful experience because it required me to study the past and understand the evolution of what Cadillac is today,” said Wiquist. “This rendition introduces a new, soaring form that reflects the brand’s heritage while also driving it into the future.”

Unsurprisingly, Wiquist found inspiration in physical Goddess sculptures from past eras, but he was also inspirited by the GM Design Center library, where he was able to study drapery incorporated into sculpture to help him capture the Goddess’s dress. There was no set direction to integrated the Goddess into the Celestiq, allowing Wiquist creative freedom in the design. 

In the Celestiq, the Goddess will greet owners as an emblem above the vehicle’s charge port door, as well as in a 3D molded glass figure on the front fender trim, as well as a central backlit Goddess embedded in glass in the middle of the multi-function controller’s knurled aluminum knob.

“Heritage is an inextricable element of everything Cadillac does, while our future is about perfecting the art of individuality,” Wiquist said.

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