Original acrylic and oil on canvas 30.5 x 30 cm

Within this composition I felt drawn to the actual excavation site blueprint of the settlement of Hasanlu. The gold indicates purity cradling the fated lovers within the ancient city. Their feelings are preserved and communicated even though they are long since gone. We as human beings have the extraordinary capability to empathise and imagine those feelings creating an internal recognition. Love. Fear and everything in-between.

Original acrylic and ink on paper 22 x 18.5 cm

In the remains of an ancient destroyed village, archaeologists discovered the remains of two bodies in the excavation of the long ago city of Teppe Hasanlu. In fact the remains of hundreds of inhabitants were found and are dated back 2,800 years ago, 800 BCE. The city was destroyed by an invading army from the Urartu kingdom in the area that is now known as Iran. They swept through the city and burnt it to the ground. The relationship between these two ancient people is unknown but what was so striking to me, is even across over 2,000 years, the intertwined bare bones communicate deep emotion between two people, that has an extraordinary level of tenderness, and we feel it. The images struck a chord in my heart. What is truly important to realize is the transient nature of earthly life.

Original acrylic and oil on canvas 31 x 30 cm

My inspiration was my research into the destruction of Hasenlu. When looking at the human remains I was reminded of my own physical mortality. The Skeleton reminds of the transient nature of earthly life, and our emotions are the bridge between our feeling selves and our thinking selves and ultimately our actions. As a medium the skeleton connects life and death, the conscious with the unconscious. How do we reconcile and integrate those two worlds? ‘Memento Mori’ is Latin for Remember Death. Within this recognition we are lead to reflect on life and how we live it.