"In some ancient traditions, a King was seen as a solar deity and held a much deeper more sacred responsibility in his role as a ruler. He was seen as being responsible for the wellbeing of the people and the land upon which they lived. When plague or blight was visited upon a people and no answer could be found, the King or ruler was sacrificed either symbolically or literally, so that balance could again be restored.
We are living in a time of plague and blight right now. The whole world seems out of balance, socially, economically, spiritually, not to mention the environment.
When making this piece, I wanted to take the idea of the Sun King and internalise it, bring it down to a personal level in regards to what rules or drives us as individuals at this time in history? Is it hunger, greed, a narcissistic self interest? How did we get here? And maybe most importantly, what needs to be sacrificed in order to restore balance once more?" Anthony Stevens