Dawn of the Age of the Superhuman by Mark Sheeky

G660D Dawn of the Age of the Superhuman
Oil on panel in cabinet of wood, metal, gold, gemstones
Jan to Aug 2014, Size 350x464 mm

Detail from Dawn of the Age of the Superhuman by Mark Sheeky Detail from Dawn of the Age of the Superhuman by Mark Sheeky Detail from Dawn of the Age of the Superhuman by Mark Sheeky Detail from Dawn of the Age of the Superhuman by Mark Sheeky

About this painting
A complex work, the painting here is but a small part of a large wooden cabinet with carved and gilded doors that open when pendula are pulled. This became my third great cabinet artwork, following the Richard Dadd cabinet and the Eden Iris.

This artwork is about technology and the future, and was painted for an unrealised exhibition about the impact of future technology on humanity. Although I am the model here, this painting is not about me but about technological power.

On the right, crowds of people flock to a temple of science, made from crystals, rays extending to mathematics, the stars, the ephemeral gods. Such powers grant humanity the power over love and death, but what of emotions and our animal past?

In a lonely desert scene on the left, two figures wander.

Technical details
The cabinet is complex and elaborate, carved and gilded with 23.5kt gold. It depicts the sun and moon, angels, alpha and omega in a mathematical structure that fits with different elements of the painting.