Five , 2020
42 x 59.4 cm (h x w)
Pencil and gold leaf on paper

My mind is a whole world unto itself. If you save a human life, you save the world entire. Because every human being is an entire universe.

The imagination can dream up anything and that is the role of artists and scientists. Health workers, doctors, carers are risking themselves to save people. The best of humanity is emerging. It is a terrible time but also one filled with human greatness, kindness, endurance, care for others, empathy. This drawing is capped by the hands of blessing and the fertile nest again.

It is day five of my illness and I don’t know which way it will go. The symptoms are endurable, but the fear is not. I decide to stop watching the news, the surreal daily briefing from Downing Street in an oddly wooden panelled room, like a coffin for the whole nation.

How quickly the world can be turned upside down. But the mind is an inner sanctuary. If we can be philosophical, train our minds to accept things, then we have some independence. This work explores the idea that the human mind has a capacity far beyond that which is utilized.

In the future it is likely that the farthest reaches of the mind will be explored; not just the farthest reaches of space. In time the working of the mind will be understood far more scientifically, mind expanding drugs will perhaps worryingly redefine humanity. It may even become possible to allow human exploration within another person’s mind.

Exhibited by:

Ben Uri Research Unit

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