Sailors

“This piece uses the nautilus as a metaphor for humanity. The most salient connection is intelligence because nautiluses belong to the cephalopod class (octopus, squid, etc.), which are known for their learning abilities. On a deeper level, I view the spiraling shell as the course that humanity takes throughout history. A spiral is a shape that goes in circles, but ones that expand outwards. Similarly, history often takes familiar paths as people respond to the past, which was already a response to what came before that. Even though history might be cyclical, nothing occurs in the exact same way, so there’s a sense of outward growth. Like how the nautilus slowly builds its shell, humans slowly expand their cities and civilization. However this desire for growth is both a strength and flaw of humanity. While growth can be viewed as progress in either science or society, it can also be viewed as overconsumption. In this way, the figures in my piece, which were modeled after swimmers, look like they are clawing and grasping for more and more.”