faiyoum egypt
roman period
encaustic paintiing on panel (digital, 2025)

i made this while thinking hard abt ths simulacra of ancient egyptian art tht pop culture, and particularly furry, have created, how ppl latch onto like a particular funerary custom and turn it into a funhouse mirror version of itself so loaded with colonial anxieties itd be unrecognizeable to the ppl who participated in it. i wanted to oinject a litttle - well reality isnt quite the right word as ill explain later. i went with roman egyptian art trying to put some cracks in the idea of static unchanging cultures (ppl love to do this w othered ppl) and draw attention to tht history never stops for tradition.
the choice of character was playing into this too - nahla’s backstory incorporated a lot of these thoughts
i was also trying to explore the boundary between art and artifact which while fuzzy, which side its seen as falling on heavily influences how its percieved
another inspiration was jorge luis borges’ work “tlon, uqbar, orbis tertius” and the idea of changing the past and present with constructed artifacts from an alternate world (u should read it its a rly neat story). all my historical inspired art engages with this to some extent, like individual runes in a spell to make the past furry and thus change the present

also not gonna lie theres a little bit of "indirect mummification kink art" in the mix too

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