Created for the cover of my dissertation titled ‘The Pineapple as a Utopian Symbol: A Harbinger for Colonialism in the 21st Century’, this illustration explores the presence of the pineapple in both historical and present day culture.

As a child I have a distinct memory of asking Father Christmas for a pineapple in my stocking, and when searching for a topic for my dissertation the iconography of the fruit came to mind . While not immediately obvious how or why this inanimate object held such significance in my mind, the more I researched the pineapple’s history and influence in the modern day, the more visible was a dichotomy painted with connotations of wealth, warmth and an idealisation of the exotic contrasting imperialism, power and exploitation of the lowest class – these dualities bringing rise to a myriad of further questions I explored in my writing.

Dissertation Cover