ants bump together in single-file lines
Zinc Plate Line Etching with Aquatint Tonal Method

The idea for this image came a few years back.  I was staying in St. Louis when I woke up early in the morning by all these unfamiliar noises.  By growing up in a rather rural lifestyle, the sound of busy city life is uncommon for me.  So I am being awakened by the sounds of traffic, cop cars, people pacing their apartment directly above and it gave me an uneasy feeling.  I went outside to see what all the commotion was, and I turned around to look at the apartment I was staying at only to be reminded me of filing cabinet.  It was like cages stacked upon cages.

The life of an ant is a single purpose.  It is a life of constant work and production.  Work.  Sleep.  Work. Sleep.  Work.  They have the process down so well and orderly, that they form a line in which they follow one another.  All one ant has to do is follow what the ant in front of them is doing and everything goes just fine.

People get so caught up in the day-to-day routine they forget that they are living.  Life has basically become their full-time job, vise versa.

Above the city for all to see is what many have turned to as a guidance.  Organized religion has served as a form of support for those who need guidance.  With the backing of these religious ideas, individuals feel more comfortable with doing their monotonous daily routine in hopes of being rewarded for the more they put into.  Yet by doing so, they remain in their ant trails.

Even further above is the image of the moon.  The moon is a symbol for the cycle of life.  Within the moon is the ouroboros, also symbolic of the cycle of life.  One must accept the fact that everything dies and is reborn with the new.  Life feeds on life.  We must take time to stop what we are doing and think about what we are doing.  We must ask ourselves what is it that we are doing and for what purpose.  Even more, we should ask how our actions will effect the larger picture.  By doing this we are living more than just going along with the flow.  By doing this we are capable of freeing ourselves from these manmade cages we have created and imprisoned ourselves with.  By doing this we are more capable of creating our own paths.