Original piece, ink and graphite on A3 250gsm paper. Hand Signed.

This work was inspired by my fascination with the ancient Greek Echidna, half woman half snake Goddess and the wider spiritual traditions of the ancient Mediterranean, where women often occupied roles as priestesses, healers and guardians of sacred knowledge. Reading ancient Greek sources and later historical accounts led me to question how these figures, once associated with wisdom, ritual and healing, gradually became recast as dangerous or transgressive as cultural and religious attitudes changed.

I was also inspired by the visual language of nineteenth-century engravers such as Gustave Doré, alongside medieval manuscripts and early printed texts. Their intricate line work, dramatic use of light and symbolic compositions have greatly influenced my own approach to drawing. I wanted this illustration to feel as though it had been discovered within an ancient text while still speaking to contemporary conversations about memory, mythology and the representation of women.