Between Colchis and the Dead Sea Painting

The imaginary landscape "Between Colchis and the Dead Sea" was painted after a scene in a dream. I had been reading about the Colchis mysteries and also planning a visit to the Dead Sea at the time. The large painting, the scope of which it is difficult to appreciate online, draws inspiration from two mythologies. First, the story of Prometheus being bound to a rock in Asia Minor by Zeus. Second, the story of Lot's wife being turned to a pillar of salt for looking back at the destruction of the city of Sodom. In both stories, a rock or pillar features, and divine wrath manifests as something that humans could regard as destructive or even cruel. In terms of materials, I used poppy oil rather than linseed as a binder, with raw pigments, as it seemed appropriate and in harmony with the tranquility and beauty of the dreamlike landscape. In painting the rock, I wanted to create an ambivalence with a reference to both Lot's wife and Prometheus. The rock subtly hints at both a giant bird (like the one sent by Zeus to Prometheus) and a standing woman. In dealing with such instances of divine wrath, the dream landscape also appears like a veil and the high vantage point evokes the feeling of flying. The landscape almost floats and my experience was that this was like anaesthesia and in exploring that, I thought "This is because of the compassion of Prometheus on humanity and also something about the gesture of Lot's wife turning back to Sodom."

Painting:Oil on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:60 W x 48 H x 1.5 D in

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