EDITIONS // FORBIDDEN FRUIT SERIES
These works explore the secret lives of fruit, merging their beauty with their underlying essence in a celebration of colour, form and texture.
Each image was drawn on to lithographic stones and plates, and hand-printed on to archival French cotton paper. Editions are strictly limited to 10 prints, and the plates and stones are sanded off after printing to ensure that no further impressions can be made.
Every print is signed and embossed with the artist’s chop marks.
5-colour lithograph
Edition: 10+1
52 cm x 35 cm
2004
This image was inspired by one of my favourite films, “Leolo”, written and directed by Jean-Claude Lauzon.
Léo, a young boy from working-class Montréal, escapes his hilariously dysfunctional family by indulging in opulent daydreams. He imagines that he is actually the offspring of an Sicilian farmer, from whom Léo’s mother buys her tomatoes at the local market. He believes that the farmer must have “fertilised” the tomatoes with his own seed and when Léo’s mother fell onto the tomato cart, she became pregant.
Léo insists on being called “Leolo” and stubbornly denies any relation to his insane family.
8-colour lithograph
Edition: 10+1
52 cm x 35 cm
2014
The image of the beet was inspired by the 1985 New York Times Bestseller novel Jitterbug Perfume, by Tom Robbins.
Two storylines weave across centuries of time and distances covering three continents, and one single quest unites the characters. Everyone is obsessed with finding the secret ingredient to two riddles: immortality, and the formula for a mysterious 300-year old perfume.
8-colour lithograph
Edition: 10+1
52 cm x 35 cm
2014
In Canada and the US, harvest time means pumpkins. One of the most popular autumn motifs, pumpkins symbolise abundance and prosperity. The Hallowe’en custom of carving jack o’ lanterns from pumpkins derives from Irish folklore about a lost soul. The spirit of a man called Stingy Jack was doomed to wander the earth for all eternity, carrying a lantern made of a carved out turnip to light his way. He became known as Jack of the Lantern.
This legend became the basis for carving scary faces into pumpkins and setting them outside the front door or in windowsills. Lit with a candle, it was said they would ward off the evil spirit of Stingy Jack. The Irish also believed the lanterns would light the way for good spirits to visit their living relatives on the 31st of October, the one night a year when the boundary between the world of the living and that of the spirits fell away.
8-colour lithograph
Edition: 9+1
52 cm x 35 cm
2004
To the ancient Greeks and Romans, the pomegranate was associated with the underworld, and was a symbol of both death and rebirth. Its seeds were believed to contain the secrets of forbidden knowledge. Some scholars believe that the apple Eve ate in the Garden of Eden was actually a pomegranate.
In Greek mythology, Hades (God of the Underworld) kidnapped Persephone, daughter of Demeter, the Goddess of Nature. He gave Persephone a pomegranate, knowing that every seed she ate would reveal the secrets of life and death. This would bind her to him and to his hidden kingdom, as no “living” being is may possess such knowledge.
8-colour lithograph
Edition: 10+1
52 cm x 35 cm
2014
Persephone had eaten six of the seeds by the time Zeus convinced Hades to let her go. And so, Persephone was bound to stay in the underworld for six months of the year, and could return to her mother for the other six. While Persephone is with Hades, Demeter’s mourning brings winter to the land; upon her return, her mother’s joy revitalises the earth, bringing the bounty of summer.
6-colour lithograph
Edition: 9+1
52 cm x 35 cm
2004
In the Yoruba tradition, the Gods would feast on mangoes, endowing their virtues upon the fruit. It stands for patience, compassion, and love.
The Hindus believe the mango tree is the home of the Gods. Murugan and Ganesh, the sons of Lord Shiva and Maa Parvati, have a particular fondness for mangoes. Leaves of the mango tree are used to decorate people’s homes during festivals, and slices of mango are given as offerings.
5-colour lithograph
Edition: 10+1
52 cm x 35 cm
2014
In the Hindu culture, limes are combined with chilis to ward off the evil eye or evil spirits. Many Indian shopkeepers thread lemons and green chillies on a string and hang it at the entrance. This is supposed to ward off evil spirits or the curses of jealous competitors who would wish bad luck to their business.
Devotees of the Hindu goddesses Durga and Kali Mata offer garlands made of limes, and the ripe fruit is used extensively in Hindu ritual as a symbol of sacrificial offering.
In Jamaica, market vendors rinse their stands with lime water every morning, to wash off any bad luck that a jealous seller or disgruntled customer might have cast upon them the previous night, that could negatively affect their sales. Jamaicans also use the expression “cut and clear” when referring to the lime’s spiritual power to remove obstacles.
8-colour lithograph
Edition: 10+1
52 cm x 35 cm
2004
To the Aztecs, avocados were called “ahuacatl”, which was actually just the Nahuatl word for “testicle” — due to the fact that they grow in pairs and were thought to be an aphrodisiac, or a source of strength and/or fertility to whoever consumed one.
The avocado was also a symbol of love in the Aztec culture because the trees need grow close to each other in order to cross-pollinate and bear fruit.
5-colour lithograph
Edition: 9+1
52 cm x 35 cm
2004
Figs and fig trees play an important role in cultures across the globe. There are a number of references in the Bible: the infants Romulus and Remus were found under a fig tree, and the fig’s leaves were also used to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness. In the Eastern Tradition, the Buddha was meditating under a fig tree when he became enlightened.
But the fig also enjoys more worldly and hedonistic references. To the ancient Greeks, figs were a symbol of the rich and of nobility. The fig was also associated with the goddess Demeter, as she made a gift of fresh figs to the Athenians to celebrate Persephone’s return from Hades’ underworld.
Figs are also a symbol of Dionysus, the
God of wine, fertility and creative rapture. To this day, many people still consider the fig to be an aphrodisiac.
4-colour lithograph
Edition: 9+1
52 cm x 35 cm
2004
As the source of life, eggs represent fertility and the potential for all that exists in the universe. References to the spiritual significance of eggs can be found in many myths and legends from cultures across the globe. What is interesting is that while the details may differ from myth to myth, one fundamental idea is common across all civilisations: that the egg is the container of great mysteries, power, and wisdom, and it is the source from which all that manifests springs. They are the bridges between our world and that of the spirits; they are the treasure chests of the cosmos.
The notion of infinite potential is also found in the idea of the “Cosmic Egg”. Stories from many ancient cultures describe the very creation of the universe, and the emergence of all that exists as coming from an egg.
5-colour lithograph
Edition: 9+1
52 cm x 35 cm
2004
Perhaps the apple’s most well-known association is with Eve in the Garden of Eden. Eating the fruit was forbidden, and many see the apple as a symbol of destruction and original sin. Some scholars believe that the apple might actually have been a pomegranate, due to that fruit’s association in Greek mythology with forbidden knowledge.
In modern western culture, the poisoned apple given to Snow White by her
stepmother can also be seen as a symbol of evil. Beyond these negative associations, the belief that apples did impart forbidden knowledge doesn’t always refer to curses and destruction. The five-pointed star formation made by the seeds is reminiscent of the symbol of the five sacred elements of life: earth, air, water, fire, and spirit.