2006–2007 · 65 × 65 cm (approx. 26 × 26 in) · Born in the Sky · by Stephen Meakin
The peacock carries more symbolic weight than almost any other creature. It is the national bird of India. Krishna wears its feather. In Greek mythology, when Hermes killed the hundred-eyed giant Argus Panoptes, Hera placed all one hundred of his eyes onto the tail of the peacock, which is why each feather bears an eye. In alchemy, the cauda pavonis, the peacock's tail, marks the moment of transformation made visible. In early Christianity, the peacock symbolised resurrection. Its flesh was thought to be incorruptible.
Stephen knew all of this. And in 2006, the peacock sent him a feather.
He worked on it for over a year. Minerva's aegis was a shield covered in eyes. The peacock's tail is the same. Stephen saw the connection and named the painting accordingly.
The peacock finds the sun. The sun finds the painter. The painter finds the feather.
In 2006 the new canvas was primed and ready. I needed inspiration, so one afternoon a good friend and I decided to take a Sunday circular walk up to Wolstonbury Hill from Hurstpierpoint Village in East Sussex. On returning to my car, and to my complete astonishment, a clean and shiny Peacock feather was caught under the tyre. Unbeknownst to me, one Peacock male had just recently escaped his Stately Home. He had made a home on the roof of a brand new garden conservatory recently constructed in the village. I was lost for words, knowing already that the Peacock was a great Solar / Sun / Son symbol as well as being the national bird of India. — Stephen Meakin