The single historic story that is the most interesting to me in the whole wide world is that of the Franklin Expedition of 1850. The thing about the Franklin Expedition, whose mission was to discover the fabled NorthWest passage is that no matter how many layers of the mystery are peeled back there are still more that deepen the Enigma. Like an onion, there are seemingly endless layers. just over a decade ago both of the missing ships were finally found. They were in shallow water and could be seen from the surface. Investigation revealed that both ships were almost perfectly preserved. Fine China plates were stacked in their underwater grave-- none of them broken or damaged. Even bottles of wine and provisions seem to be perfectly preserved. This would seem to contradict the basic story which was that the crew starved to death and resorted to cannibalism. Further investigation revealed that the crews of both vessels in fact did resort to cannibalism. The bones that were found on prince William Island had deep cuts in them that proved that the men of both the Terror and Erebus ships survived at least for a time, by eating the bone marrow of their cabin mates. I've probably read 12 or 14 books and journals about the subject, including those written by the widow of Captain Franklin and other first hand or close to first hand accounts. I could probably spend the rest of my life making art artwork about the Franklin expedition or to be more precise, the mystery of the Franklin expedition. So in approaching this work, I decided to focus on the feelings and emotions of the landscape that these intrepid souls landed in and finally died in. I used objects that are commonly found in anyone's house. Jar tops, broken pieces of wood from chopsticks and other detritus of everyday life. I also work in copious amounts of thick gel media to create texture, depth and visual paths for the eye. Both glass beaded gel media and thick opaque gel media were used in order to create a sense of reflection in some areas and also impenetrable harshness in others. Snow both absorbs light and reflects light and is a very deceptive substance. It can protect you and keep you warm and it can also seal you in an eternal too tomb. I worked on this piece off and on for over a year. I really wanted to suggest rather than depict some of the deeper more disturbing aspects of the tale. My real intention was to explore a sense of a mystery and tragic loss that can never be solved.

Artwork Size & Ink Base:

61 x122

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Daniel Aaron Schwartz

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