The above artwork, 44×44 inches, incorporates the logo of the Ilex Foundation (where the word Ilex creates an abstract geometric design around its center) and the holly as an evergreen. The work was printed on metallic paper and presented as a gift to the Ilex Foundation, a non-governmental organization promoting the study of Mediterranean & Near Eastern civilizations and beyond.
Peruse the Ilex Series, a collection of scholarly works, published by the Ilex Foundation in partnership with the Center for Hellenic Studies. “It plays an integral part in the Foundation’s overall mission to promote the study of humanistic traditions that derive from the civilizations of the Mediterranean and the Near East, from the second millenium BCE to the present.”
“The ILEX Foundation’s emphasis on the study of cultural variation is reflected in the name Ilex as a symbol. In classical Latin, Ilex means “holm oak,” that is, a kind of oak that happens to be evergreen – unlike other oaks in the Mediterranean climate – and that happens to look like holly (or “holm” in older English); in scientific or “Linnaean” Latin, ilex means “holly.” The plant to which ilex refers is thus a variable, but the concept of the holm oak or the holly as an evergreen is a constant. That is the symbol of Ilex.”