Contained Maze

This painting and collage depicts a single figure; it combines surface appearance and revealed interior (intestines or labyrinth) with geometrical devices. It falls into Ayrton's long exploration of classical mythology: the animal/man/divine hybrid Minotaur and the labyrinth made for it by the craftsman Daedalus (with whom he identified). Ayrton lived in Essex from 1951 and helped to set up the Art History department at Essex University.