Scapegoat
This interest possibly came along at the period referenced above in “Self Portrait: Defiant,” when I felt blamed for everything that had, could, and would go wrong. Aside from that, I was also interested in the idea of the scapegoat in itself. In ancient societies it was customary ritual to run a goat into the wilderness to die. The Israelites practiced this, and instructions for the ritual can be found in Leviticus 16.An interesting curiosity of this verse is the Hebrew word that I’ve written across the goat’s flank. In popular translations the word is translated to imply a scapegoat, that the goat should be run into the desert “to be a scapegoat.” A more proper translation suggests the name of some ancient thing, saying that the goat should be run into the desert “to send to Azazel.” There is a lack of information of who or what Azazel was, but the implication seems to be that of a desert spirit who was appeased by the gift of goats. So this same word has been translated as either “scapegoat” or “Azazel.”
The presence of goat skeletons in my painting suggests that this has not been the first goat to take the blame for the wrongs of society, and implies that it will neither be the last.