Nebuchadnezzar's Dream I

'Nebuchadnezzar's Dream' was created during 2017 in collaboration with South African sculptor Isabel Mertz. For the group exhibition 'Snake Eyes 3.0', hosted by FRIED Contemporary, participating artists were assigned in pairs to create new work. As Isabel was based in Cape Town, we corresponded informally via text and email, getting acquainted with each other’s creative sensibility. After several of these exchanges, one work in Isabel’s portfolio particularly resonated with me. The work was a set of tiny Lego cityscapes she had made which reminded me of the biblical story of 'Nebuchadnezzar's Dream'. The sculptures, which are cast in concrete and wrapped in crumbled gold leaf, evoked, for me, visions of the King's dream to create a statue made of gold, silver, bronze, stone and clay. I instinctively became attracted to play with this symbolism and Isabel and I then toyed with the idea of our own downfall.

As with the poem 'Ozymandias' written by Percy Bysshe Shelley, we wanted to investigate the human condition with regard to our mortality and longevity of our accomplishments. In creating this work, it was important for us to juxtapose both the animate and inanimate.