Return of the Phoenix

This painting is called “Apocalypse, The Opening of the Sixth Seal.” It’s by Irish artist Francis Danby (1828) and is on permanent display in the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin. It vividly illustrates the apocalyptic cataclysm from the Book of Revelation, featuring a violently crumbling earth, the darkening sky, a blood-red moon and terror-stricken humanity.

“As he broke the sixth seal there was a violent earthquake, the sun became black, the moon turned completely red like blood, the stars fell down to earth, the sky disappeared like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.”
Revelation 6:12-14

Numerous times throughout Earth’s history there have been major cataclysmic events resulting in large-scale climatic changes, mythological stories of floods, visitations from the skies and on some occasions the complete extinction of life.

Referred to as ‘The Phoenix Phenomenon’ by Jason Breshears*, these global resets or pole shifts occur to varying degrees on a recurring mathematical timeline every 138 years.

My paintings and cyanotypes of The Phoenix attempt to capture both the metaphor of Breshears phenomenon and the moment of regeneration as this magnificent beast rises from the ashes.

* Breshears, J. (2009) “When the Sun Darkens”