Leaves of stone

In this work, Hindu symbols representing each of the five elements are engraved into sheets of slate – square (earth), crescent (water), triangle (fire), large circle (air) and small circle (ether). Di Mauro’s use of stone was a conscious decision referring to transformation as part of the process towards immortality, and the idea that humans have venerated stone for millennia. The artist describes the connection between material and imagery: “[It] essentially reflects a polemic of life versus after-life. It brings into question the finality of the secular Western concept of death by comparing it to the Eastern philosophy of rebirth and reincarnation. At some point both ideologies merge.”