In the heart of this piece, we find a reimagined Hercules, a symbol of strength and bravery, in a state of casual repose. His muscular form, bathed in the soft glow of dawn, exudes a sense of effortless confidence. This is not the Hercules of old, embroiled in relentless labour; this is a Hercules who has found peace, a Hercules who has reclaimed his dignity and purpose after emerging from his personal underworld. Finding new kinds of strength and bravery en route.
At his feet sits Cerberus, the three-headed beast known in mythology as the guardian of the underworld. Traditionally, Cerberus was a symbol of fear and death, preventing the dead from leaving the underworld. Here, Cerberus is reimagined as a faithful companion. Speaking to the irony of rebirth with his 3 heads fixed on the past, the present, and the future. Impossible to separate, no matter how fast we run from man’s best friend.
In overcoming the trials of our personal underworlds, we often find ourselves running away from the very chaos that forged our evolution, the very chaos that made this new version of ourselves possible in the first place, whether we were ready for the change or not. Yet, it is only by acknowledging and embracing these trials that we truly find freedom from them. And the private dock, connecting the safety of home with a wide open sea of possibility, serves as a metaphor for this liminal space of transformation. Of evolution through acceptance. Of finding wholeness in between. It is here, in this moment of quiet reflection, that we find the freedom to become our best selves. Leaving you to the quiet reflection of nothing much, just for a moment, while you wait to ride off anywhere but here…
