Filmed under lower light to better show the symbol’s luminosity.
Archive: DHPW-2026-031
Artist: Dave Holt Year: 2026
Medium: Acrylic on petrified wood
Dimensions: approx. 6 × 3 × 2 in. / 15.2 × 7.6 × 5.1 cm
Weight: 1.11 lb (0.50 kg)
Geological age: Late Triassic, approximately 200+ million years old
About the Work
The painted field spreads across one face of this petrified wood while leaving its irregular perimeter, cavities, fractures, and large areas of mineral structure exposed. Dense clusters of circles, angular forms, repeated marks, black lines, and metallic color create an intricate visual system against the darker stone. Gold, copper, white, violet, red, and muted earth tones appear almost embedded within the geological surface rather than separated from it. The composition shifts between concentrated passages and open areas, allowing the natural structure of the wood to interrupt and reshape the painted field.
The symbol has no assigned translation or fixed meaning. Its complexity suggests organization without providing a key to that organization. Viewed from the sides and back, the painted surface gives way almost completely to the ancient material, revealing layers, fractures, mineral deposits, and preserved structures that existed long before the contemporary marks were added. The work holds those two systems together: one formed through geological time, the other through human action. Neither explains the other, and the relationship between them remains deliberately unresolved.
Available for Purchase
$575
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