Ashes

Dimensions: 870mm x 660mm

Drawn: 2009

See text below.

This is a piece that I have wanted to draw for quite a while. I knew that it would possibly not be the most socially acceptable piece in the collection, but it is such a striking image, and another opportunity to throw a little colour into the mix.

With the recent bombardment of vision on Australian TV of the bushfires that ravaged rural Victoria in the summer of 2009, I think that we all were reminded of the immense power that nature holds over us, and that we are all here entirely at its whim.

I have always held a certain love for the beauty of fire, and humanity's dominion over it has certainly been an integral part of our evolution into the ‘advanced’ creature that we think we are today. However, we have become complacent with regard to who really is in control of the flame, and these recent events have driven it home that it is not us.

While my sympathy goes out to those who have suffered loss at the hands of nature, I find myself marveling at the beauty and power of the flames. Capturing this beauty was my drive behind executing this piece at this particular time.

The fact that it is a church that has been razed in this image serves to illustrate the point, that if there is a God, (not a concept that I entertain), it is one that is uninterested in man, both as a species and as individuals. If anything, God is against man, and will at some point smite us all.

The fact that we lose property and life to nature on a continual basis, with no intervention at all, even when it is a ‘House of The Lord’ beautifully illustrates the point that God does not care.