Ficus

Painted Bronze

345 x 247 x 12 mm

2021

Fig etymologically can be traced back to an abbreviation of ‘figure’, namely that ‘which is formed’, thus a sea of elliptical references. Ficus is the Latin genus name for the fig plant. This fig leaf, depicted by the Artist as a falling autumnal leaf is a floating signifier leading the audience to question what is being concealed. The painted surface hides a bronze repoussage, where the metal is hammered and pressed into the leaf form. Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, upon consuming the forbidden fruit they developed a consciousness and realised they were naked, so to conceal their genitals they covered them with a fig leaf. As such the fig leaf holds a curious relation to sex, religion and censorship, as played out through the history of art.