Ecdysis #1 - Limited Edition of 1 Photograph

Ecdysis Noun: the process of shedding old skin (in reptiles) or casting off the outer cuticle (in insects and other arthropods). Inspiration for this collection was to project a visual reflection of the quote: "If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes" - St. Clement of Alexandria. Backstory: Late one afternoon, after days of torrential rain, I ventured outside. The air was fresh, the earth damp; an emanation of petrichor in my nostrils. The listless plants and trees were now sparkling with raindrops and radiating a verdant, infectious, joi de vivre. Everything, including myself, felt refreshed, renewed. Glistening from the wooden beams above, hung a freshly shed tree-snake skin. Snakes, although repugnant to some, have for me, always been creatures of beauty and intrigue. This collection is metaphor for renewal, fresh beginnings, shedding the ‘old’ and leaving it behind. Whether a subject of horror or fascination, the images serve as reflection on correlations between humans and reptiles. How so? Snakes generally shed (or slough) their skins once a month and although the process isn’t as dramatic? humans shed their/our skin (and replace it) more often than snakes do. Our external skin cells last about 30 days -which means that we shed and re-grow an entirely new skin every month. By 70 years of age, an average person will have lost 48kg (105 pounds) of skin…that’s almost 1000 ‘new’ skins in a lifetime. Where does it all go? It’s the dust on our windowsills, carpets, office desks and beds. Our homes, cars and places of work are filled with former parts of ourselves, friends, family, partners, pets. The term for a snake about to shed its skin is ‘being in the blue’. The signs indicating an imminent ‘shed’ are: skin becomes dull, eyes cloudy or ‘bluish’ and there’s a noted increase in nervous behaviour - as a result of diminished vision. After reading about ecdysis – two analogies began to wreathe around my mind. The first: Generally speaking, before major changes or transformations in our ways of being, behaving or understanding the world -we go through a similar changes – when feeling ‘down’ or ill - there’s a pallor to our skin. Eyes lose their sparkle. Being able to ‘see’ a clear way forward can feel impossible. These signs usually precede a ‘shift’ and change of direction – into a ‘new’ version of ourselves. The second similarity, was more lofty in nature: I thought about the eyes of beloved pets when they grow old, beloved family members and friends in their dotage: eyes milky and blue - before the ultimate ‘shedding’ of the physical body. I concluded (whilst finishing this collection) that ultimately, while we’re still ‘here’ - on earth, in our bodies - somewhere in the midst of shedding a ‘1000 skins’ – that the awareness of change and transformation of ourselves and others - is as good a reason as any, to harness and harvest the notion of hope.

Photography:Color on Other

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:18 W x 18 H x 0.1 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.