Quadriga Horses with Spirals – quadriptych

Much of my art reflects on histories being lost, cultures and people disappearing and what happens after.  What remains.  These paintings resulted from my musings on the past and the impact of art on history.  I developed the four together as a single piece.  I built the paintings beginning with a photo transfer of horses heads onto a clear encaustic base.  I added colour, rusted paper forms, rag paper spirals and more layers of encaustic, finishing with the spirals of horse hair.  These gorgeous bronze horses were part of a monument depicting a quadriga - a racing chariot - looted from Constantinople in the 13th century.  So the painting is a Quadriga Quadriptych.  The horses have been on St. Marks in Venice basically since their arrival from Constantinople with a brief interval when they were stolen by Napoleon.  They stand now as ikons representing and guarding the spirit of Venice - in itself a symbol of the enduring power of art.