Acrylic on board, 7″ x 10″
Many layers of acrylic glazing were required to create smooth shading and increase the intensity of color in this piece. The central figure in the box is derived from a story about the Egyptian god Osiris. After being trapped in a casket, he is thrown into the river and washes up on land, where a tree grows and encases both the box and the contents. In Egyptian art, Osiris is often colored green, accentuating his connection to the earth. A heart shape implied by a pair of snakes eating each others’ tails in a modified form of the Uroborus representing infinity, a cyclic return, as in the sense of something constantly re-creating itself and, of course, love. The heart shape is echoed beneath the tree as the ‘stag heart’ – a traditional heart shape with antlers. Fish populate the plentiful leaves of the tree to convey abundance. A giant bird echoes the sky and builds tension through the contrast of deep red surrounded by green. The bees signify their traditional symbolic role of fertility as well as their evolved role as environmental gauge. Their appearance invokes the current issue of Colony Collapse Disorder and the various potential causes such as pesticide overuse, GMO crops, and other stressors.
While science struggles to find causes and solutions to this problem, the keen observer will notice the following: beekeepers who practice organic methods experience virtually no colony collapse.
Calantirnielon, ‘Llewellyns’ 2012 Moon Sign Book’