How Are The Mighty Fallen is a signed, limited edition Giclée printed on Minuet Cotton Rag Paper. This work centres on two rare 1959 woodcut prints by British artist David Bethel CBE, Krishna and Refugee, brought together as opposing yet connected expressions of the human condition: belonging and exclusion, divinity and displacement.
The original prints occupy the eye sockets of a skull that serves not as a symbol of death, but as a witness. Through one eye it sees a god; through the other, a refugee. It recognises no distinction between them. Religion, nationality, class and race are identities imposed upon the body, while the skull reveals the shared humanity beneath.
Krishna embodies compassion, protection and spiritual transcendence. Opposite, Refugee represents uncertainty, marginalisation and exile. Together they reflect on how religion and culture can create both belonging and otherness, offering sanctuary while defining who may enter.
Surrounding the collaged prints are poured acrylics and layered pastels inspired by the earth pigments of early Indian religious art. Fractured surfaces evoke migration routes, geological strata and accumulated histories.
At its heart, the work argues that humanity exists before identity. Beneath every doctrine, border and belief system lies the same unshakeable human condition.