Daeadalus' Cope

6' x 3'.

Feathers, hand printed canvas.

Daeadalus’ Cope specifically resembles a cape collected on Captain Cook’s third voyage (1776-80). It was a gift to Captain Charles Clerke, Cook’s second-in-command, from the Hawaiian chief, Kaneoneo and is in the British Museum. I discovered this cape after I finished my feather cope, but was struck by the similarities; the body of dark, plain feathers bordered by brightly coloured ones. My cope recalls the wax and feather-covered wings Daeadalus designed for himself and his son, Icarus, to provide a means of escape from the Cretan Labyrinth where they had been imprisoned by King Minos. Despite his father’s warnings, Icarus flew too close to the sun and it melted the wax on his wings, which sent him plummeting to his death in the sea. My cope alludes to our desire to fly as well as to the over-reaching ambition and above-the-earth politics of space programs and their technical toys, which litter the stratosphere.