Olha Pryymak is drawn to the mythical phoenix and its cycle of burning to cinders then rebirthing in its full splendour. She sees Elisabeth Frink’s Harbinger Bird as a portentous omen, in opposition to this cycle. The intensified threats of nuclear disaster in the media trigger associations with Pryymak’s birthplace of Ukraine and the Chernobyl disaster of the 1980s. Still irradiated after 40 years, plants and animals flourish in abundance. In her painting, the date palm (Latin name: Phoenix dactylifera) is a substitute for the phoenix, as the plant requires fiery temperatures of more than 50°C above ground to bear fruits. The date palm was the keystone species of Middle Eastern and North African civilization, providing food and shelter for many creatures and people for millennia.
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