Beast Dead II

In this image the unidentified creature is lying, apparently peacefully and carefully covered, perhaps dead, as the title suggests, or possibly asleep. The supine pose of a powerful animal always feels to me to bring it closer emotionally to ourselves. The image is one of a number in which I address the inconsistent and uncertain relationship between the human and nonhuman worlds. The decorativeness of the piece, the elegant wooden panel, the gold paint and circular composition, borrows from traditions of image making - Japanese prints and Indian miniatures, for instance, where even the most painful subject is rendered elegantly. It is a device I enjoy for its trickery, in a sense diguising and then heightening the pain of the image.