Peace on Papyrus
Jaquith Travis
Hayden, Idaho, USA
“This year with so much going on with COVID-19 wreaking havoc around the world, I felt a special connection to this Global Art for Peace. Because so much of the world is fearful, and rightly so, I felt the concept ‘peace’ is important right now more than ever, not only among nations and the people of nations around the world, but peace that calms our hearts and minds as well. So I looked back into ancient human history to find inspiration.
“For my project this year I went back into ancient Egypt. The earliest paper known was made from papyrus more than 1000 year B.C. This system of making paper lasted more than 2000 years as the primary source of paper in the world.
“The bird on the piece is a stylized image of a male goldfinch. The flowers and goldfinch are stylized similar to the way they might have been drawn with ink on papyrus 3000 years ago in Egypt. Flowers and birds are the symbols of spring, joy, peace, and rebirth.
“The idea behind this combination ancient paper and images is to feature, through the concept of peace, the way humans and some of the products and processes of human kind have survived through thousands of years. I feel that while our world is changing drastically right now, the world has changed drastically throughout the human history. Peace is what will help us continue to survive and thrive throughout the coming years.” Jaquith Travis
