Digital print in a mahogany stained box frame.

8000 years // From Axe to iPhone

8000 years ago in Britain, human population halved. It happened as a result of the forests growing rapidly. It made hunting and farming more difficult, and the damp conditions created a breeding ground for disease. In reaction to this environmental stress, man developed the tools to deal with the problem; the flint axe. The axe went from being a rarity to a utilitarian object, widely available.
This piece explores the ideas of development and necessity. It borrows images from Lewk Wilmshursts Forever series.
Images such as mothers with their offspring and couples dancing and kissing symbolise reproductive human behaviour and thus its continuous cycle.
This is then mirrored with images of animals courting and mating. Similarly the surface is littered with images of domesticated and working animals, signifying mans interaction with nature and reflecting on their relationship.
The patterns continual mutation holds a reference with multiplication and nature’s evolutionary reproductive system, and through extension, human advancement.
For example the motifs of the astronaut, the builders and contractors and aviation travel, refers to our own development and efforts to populate, the missiles and fighter jets allude to friction and competition in human evolution.