It is possible that the myth of Cupid and his arrows has some basis on close observation of the natural world. Land snails use 'love darts' to deliver love chemicals to each other, prior to copulation. Each species has its own particular design for their darts. Scientists have described the process and written "...each partner injects a copulatory dart into the other, which seems to hurt but nevertheless results in a renewed bout of tentacle caressing". Sex in Nature by Catton and Grey, p. 98.
nylon, wood, metal
50 x 46 x 60 cm
Finalist
Judges of the 2012 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize: Guido Belgiorno-Nettis AM (Trustee of the Art Gallery of NSW and Director of the Transfield Foundation), Natalie Wilson (Assistant Curator of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of NSW) and Professor Janice Reid AM (Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Sydney and Trustee of the Art Gallery of NSW).
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