Artworks

This series of four intricately designed kaleidoscopic works is Damien Hirst's second exploration on the theme of the elements, after his 1992 artwork "Pharmacy." The series, composed of thousands of butterfly wings, reflects Hirst's fascination with the early scientific notion that the universe was made up of four core elements which needed to be balanced in order to support the flow of spiritual energy. For thousands of years in Eastern and Western philosophy, the elements were a cornerstone of both science and medicine, used to heal the sick before modern medicine was invented.

"I can't understand why most people believe in medicine and don't believe in art, without questioning either...I like the way art works, the way it brightens people's lives up...but I was having difficulty convincing the people around me that it was worth believing in. And then I noticed that they were believing in medicine in exactly the same way that I wanted them to believe in art." -Damien Hirst