The Twilight of the Gods – 2023

Oil on canvas H130 x W180 cm

The striking organic patination of the Burchell’s zebra is mesmerizing. The camouflage potential of the unique pattern on each individual enables offspring to identify parents immediately after birth. In this image the dark striped pattern is painted without the alternating off-white colouring, creating a transparent effect which forcefully blends the animal with its landscape. The organic is juxtaposed with the geometric zebra crossing device which forces an unmistakable reading of deep perspectival illusionistic space.

The setting is the Salt Pan at the Nxai Pan National Park in Botswana. The trees are the Baines Baobabs, a well known landmark named after the explorer/ artist Thomas Baines. Mounted astride the Zebra is ‘Our Father’, a somewhat imperious boy, an elf in simplified outline, representing the monotheistic source of our male dominated world. The title suggests that his domain over the world is shortly to be curtailed – hence the gibbous waning moon.

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