Message in a Bottle painting

This painting was inspired by the intense experience of living through a cyclone and extreme weather while partially residing and working along the stunning Turkish Aegean coast.  The sheer power of the storm – its howling winds and surging seas – was both awe-inspiring and terrifying, evoking vivid memories of ancient Greek myths and legends.   In these stories, fearsome storms and violent shipwrecks were often depicted as acts of divine wrath, unleashed by capricious Greek gods to punish or test humanity

Through this work, I sought to capture not only the physical intensity of the storm but also its mythological resonance, blending raw natural forces with a sense of ancient, primal fear.  The swirling chaos of the sea and sky reflects both the external tumult and the internal human struggle against forces beyond our control.  This experience on the Aegean coast transformed into a deeply personal reflection on how mythology continues to shape our understanding of nature’s immense power, even in the modern world.  The painting serves as a bridge between past and present, a reminder of humanity’s eternal vulnerability to nature’s whims.

Having previously created a performance piece dedicated to Poseidon I wanted a tangible reminder of the work so created this painting.   The artwork reflets the earthy tones of the clay bottle and the shifting blues and greens of the sea, capturing both the fragility and resilience of nature.  An asemic message, written in squid ink, weaves across the canvas – a silent, universal apology to Neptune for our shared transgressions.