minotaur hands

2001
charcoal, oil pastel, permanent marker, & gel medium on bristol board
19" x 24"

this is part of a series about the minotaur and the labyrinth. in it i explore the various emotions that the minotaur might have felt, being that he was conceived in adultery—his mother slept with a bull via a wooden cow disguise—what child wouldn't be psychologically damaged by that? he was also hideous, being a half man/half bull creature, causing his mother's husband to dub him a monster and banish him to the center of the labyrinth. the myth describes the minotaur as a ferocious beast who destroys everything that wanders into his lair, but maybe he wasn't? maybe he was lonely. maybe, since he lived in a maze his whole life, he didn't have the social skills to deal with random hostile strangers. maybe he had no choice but to kill them out of self-defense. "minotaur hands" is an attempt to show the minotaur's hopelessness and loneliness from living in isolation, focusing on his most expressive human quality.

see also: minotaur head, minotaur body, minotaur skull