Blue Lotus

Oil and ink on paper and board

Life drawing on paper, treated with varnish and embellished with Indian ink and oil paint.

A painting which took inspiration from Greek myths, with Hera’s rebellion (and Zeus’s revenge) centre stage, while Poseidon’s equine pursuit of Demeter and Hermes’ bark-shoed theft of cattle from Apollo also feature.

The last and largest piece completed for Blue Lotus, this painting is all about creation and downfall. It is meant to be read anti-clockwise from the eggs in the hand at the bottom of the composition, through self-realisation/corruption, deification and ego, before finishing with the tarot figures being taken to the next world by the dolphins.
Tangata manu (Bird-man) is the winner of a traditional competition by the inhabitants of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), where competitors would swim out to a nearby island to retrieve the first sooty tern’s eggs of the season. The winner was the first one back with the eggs in tact, who would be crowned bird-man. The figure in the painting is my version of the cult’s deity, Make-Make. In its hand is held a nest of eggs and a chick, a copy of a wood and ivory sculpture which was found in King Tutankhamun’s tomb.

The deceased figure’s physical being is going back to the earth. But will her spirit make it into heaven or be banished to the other world? And in any case, don’t they have more fun down there than those of us who live above ground?

Oil and ink on paper on board.

Large scale painting of oil and ink on paper mounted on to board and framed.