Acrylic and gold leaf on linen, 20x20x4cm (01/2013)
This piece is from my next body which looks as animals as gods, and giving nature an elevanted status.In mythic traditions, Hares are often thought to be touched by divine madness, by a spirit of anarchy that overturns dogmatic tradition and restrictions. They are tricksters, offering us new ways of seeing and being in the world. They are emblems of the integration of body and soul.
Hares were archetypal symbols of femininity, associated with the lunar cycle, fertility, longevity, and rebirth. In some lands, Hare is the messenger of the Great Goddess, moving by moonlight between the human world and the realm of the gods; in other lands he is a god himself, wily deceiver and sacred world creator rolled into one.
In this piece I have depicted the Hare in a similar fashion to Roman Catholic Iconography, which uses gold and ultramarine to show divinity and higher status. Hares are the epitome of wildness, with that unhinged look in their eye - like they are running along the edge of sanity, like the are half in another world, another realm....