:: 2011 :: 120cm x 60cm :: Acrylics, Inks and Markers on Canvas ::
This is probably the darkest work in the series, and in terms of finding the light joy in dark sorrows was the most challenging to create. Again springing from a self-destructive dream, I found myself in the presence of three Minoan women - always symbolic of prue creative light for me - a shotgun and an enraged self-destructive urge. Despite the women attempting to bind my arm I managed nonetheless to raise the gun to my head, waking before any shots were fired. The key to this dream was understanding that in order to move onto the next phase of life, the old me had to die away, and while I was somewhat disturbed by the graphic nature of the personal expression of this archetype, my attention fell upon the mythological ‘Dying God’ motif, in which a deity willingly sacrifices itself to bring about the wellness or rebirth of the community: think Jesus or the Spirit of the Corn and so on. I therefore brightened this work with images of dying gods from around the world, and rather than blood, love hearts emerge from the figure’s ear to point towards the act of rebirth.
