MIMIR (The Wise One) is represented here as a Neanderthal skull lino print design, following my anatomical illustration style, finished with my runecharm, it evokes a Royal Mail stamp.
Mythologically MIMIR is the guardian of the mead of wisdom and creativity that the tribe of Aesir (Heathen gods) seek to acquire. Woden adventures to drink from MIMIR’s well, sacrificing one eye during the ordeal, gaining the knowledge of magic. Recent archaeological discoveries have opened up the ancient world of the Homo Sapiens, demonstrating a much more complex relationship with other ancestor hominids. It is my opinion that mythologies carry lingering traces of such interaction and in this case I suspect that MIMIR was a Neanderthal, who passed on culture and technology to the younger human tribe.
He would also go on to be decapitated during a dispute between the gods, but despite this he continues to offer sage counsel to Woden. This headlessness is often attributed to ‘wise’ characters within many mythologies and this can symbolise shamanic techniques of altered states of consciousness.
The MIMIR print has been used across a range of papers and mediums, including colourful handmade Khadi papers, heavier art paper and onto found framed glass. These can be found in the shop and at The Art Hound Gallery
