One of a series of pieces painted on Beara Peninsula in the South West of Ireland in the summer of 2026. This group of images is a reflection of the relative time-scales of rock, water, and human beings. In this image, the instant of alignment of the gull over the boy’s head evokes images of the baptism of the historical Christ, retranslating this familiar symbolism into the pre-Christian Celtic contexts that locate Divinity in Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. A boy on the liminal threshold of manhood emerges from a watery womb of Earth to take fiery flight by his own intrinsic divine nature. Or, as my Uncle put it so simply: “just a kid who went for a swim”
One of a series of pieces painted on Beara Peninsula in the South West of Ireland in the summer of 2026. This group of images is a reflection of the relative time-scales of rock, water, and human beings. In this image, the instant of alignment of the gull over the boy’s head evokes images of the baptism of the historical Christ, retranslating this familiar symbolism into the pre-Christian Celtic contexts that locate Divinity in Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. A boy on the liminal threshold of manhood emerges from a watery womb of Earth to take fiery flight by his own intrinsic divine nature. Or, as my Uncle put it so simply: “just a kid who went for a swim”
