Gattacantha

Etching, 58x48cm (framed) 42x29cm (unframed)

Gattacantha addresses our search for origins and belonging. A skeletal fish signifies our natural ancestry. The image below it balances two concepts: nature; and religion, intended as a construct used to distance ourselves from our humble natural heritage.

‘Gattaca’ is a word made from the abbreviations for the DNA nucleotide bases guanine (G), adenine (A), thymine (T) and cytosine (C). The sequence GATTACA occurs many times throughout the recently published human genome. In this artwork, a stream of code from the human genome (random sequences of the letters G, A, T and C) signifies ‘science’ and our physical journey. Hidden and embedded in the coding are names of religions. These ‘labels’ are not present in the actual coding, but represent differences in explanations of self and signify a spiritual search for origins.

The pyramidal form mimics imposed hierarchical categorization of nature, with ‘us’ as the apex of the structure.

If you are interested in Gattacantha, please contact me. Alternatively, you can find it in The Other Art Fair online shop and on Saatchi Art.