{"id":152051,"date":"2025-05-27T09:00:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T07:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/?p=152051"},"modified":"2025-05-26T17:26:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T15:26:52","slug":"forensic-artists-efforts-rock-art-conservation-efforts-catch-the-worlds-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/people\/forensic-artists-efforts-rock-art-conservation-efforts-catch-the-worlds-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"Forensic Artist\u2019s Efforts Rock Art Conservation Efforts Catch the World\u2019s Attention"},"content":{"rendered":"

A South African forensic artist is on a rare mission: conserving ancient rock art by replicating it millimetre by millimetre.<\/h2>\n

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South Africa (27 May 2025) – <\/i>Stephen Townley Bassett<\/a> is a forensic artist on a unique mission. Millimetre by millimetre, Stephen recreates rock art found across ancient caves in Southern Africa; symbols, thoughts, depictions and perhaps even spiritual inklings left behind by the ancient ones years and years ago.<\/p>\n

His mission is to conserve the rock art panel by panel with hopes that his recreations of each one can either restore a former master piece, help researchers, uncover more about why the works were created, and allow these works to become more accessible in their replicated form.<\/p>\n

Recently, Stephen was spotlighted to the world thanks to a CNN feature<\/a> (his latest moment in front of the world, having been featured in documentaries before). In the piece, the Cape Town-born forensic artist explains his meticulous process, his \u2018why\u2019 and how it all began.<\/p>\n

Fascinatingly, Stephen only works with mediums that people like the San would\u2019ve had access to. This is how he\u2019s figured out which materials help enhance certain colours (for example, white raptor feces and ostrich eggshells heated by fire make that white pigment) and how he\u2019s come to the suspicion that a bee bi-product helped make a kind glue used to stick animal hairs that created an ancient brush.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Stephen Townley Bassett (@stephen_townley_bassett_art)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n