Icarus And The Sea (2004)

Bronze and Alabaster
12″ x 23″ x 9″

Daedalus, an inventor, and his son Icarus were imprisoned on the island of Crete by King Minos. To escape, Daedalus built wings for himself and Icarus. He made the wings of feathers held together by wax. Daedalus warned his son not to fly too close to the sun, as it would melt his wings. But Icarus, exhilarated by the thrill of flying flew higher and came too close to the sun god Helios. The wax holding together his wings melted from the heat and he fell to his death, drowning in the sea.

The sculpture is of Icarus falling into the sea. Death and destruction are demonstrated by Icarus’s headless torso and the black colour of the body and the sea. The wings show multiple tears and shredding of the edges. The golden ‘shards’ represent the rays of the sun.