Music of the Winds and Seas is 4 panel work-in-progress that I officially began in 2020. Each panel measures 2’x3′ and features the music of a wind band composer, and the work as a whole is an exploration of humankind’s relationship with water.

Continuing from Wine Dark Sea, this 2nd panel takes its name from Peter Graham‘s Harrison’s Dream. Graham based his composition on the story of John Harrison’s struggle to invent the first marine chronometer, an extremely precise clock that solved a number of maritime navigation problems which were leading to many shipwrecks. Harrison’s achievement saved countless lives.

The clock in this papercutting was drawn with loose adherence to Harrison’s original H4 chronometer blueprints, with Graham’s melodies whirring inside. Graham’s bassline runs in the undercurrent, continuing from Mackey’s bassline in the previous panel. Above in the sky are the constellations Circinus (the Compass) and Horologium (the Clock). The panel as a whole is meant to depict humankind’s attempt to tame the deadly seas.

Thank you to Peter Graham for kindly allowing me to use his music! And also thanks to Michael Tang for putting together this timelapse of how this papercutting was made: