New Horizons

The Story Behind The Artwork

There is a particular moment in every journey when the familiar disappears. The moment when the shore falls behind you. The moment when you look forward and realise that everything ahead is unknown. New Horizons is inspired by that moment.

At the heart of the artwork is the connection between Plymouth and the Mayflower voyage of 1620. The Mayflower Steps have become one of Plymouth's most recognisable historical landmarks, traditionally associated with the departure of the Pilgrims on their journey across the Atlantic. From this point, the artwork moves naturally towards the sea. The Mayflower appears beyond the steps, sailing into the open water, while the horizon stretches ahead of her. It is a deliberately simple idea.

• Where you have come from.
• Where you are going.
• And the enormous space that exists between the two.

The passengers aboard the Mayflower could not see the future waiting for them. They could only see the horizon. They knew that somewhere beyond it was the land they were travelling towards, but they could not know what that new world would mean for their lives, their families or the generations that would eventually follow them. Mike Hicks has used that uncertainty as the foundation of the piece.

The Mayflower is not shown simply as a historical object. She becomes a symbol of possibility. The ship is moving away from the familiar and towards something that has yet to be experienced. The Mayflower Steps therefore become more than a location within the composition. They represent home. Plymouth. England. The place from which the journey begins. And the ship represents the decision to leave it behind. That contrast is what gives New Horizons its meaning. The artwork isn't really about a ship.

It isn't even entirely about the Mayflower. It is about what happens when people decide to cross the line between what they know and what they don't.

The Meaning Behind The Title

The phrase New Horizons has always carried a sense of possibility. A horizon is something we can see but never quite reach. As we move towards it, it moves with us. That makes it a fitting symbol for the Mayflower voyage. For the passengers of 1620, the horizon represented an unknown future. They could not see what was beyond it. They could only choose to sail towards it. Mike has deliberately made that idea the visual focus of the artwork.

The sweeping banner carrying the words NEW HORIZONS becomes almost part of the journey itself — a statement of optimism sitting above the ship as it moves towards the unknown. The surrounding clouds, sea and light reinforce the sense of transition. The world behind the ship belongs to the past. The horizon belongs to the future. And somewhere between the two is the Mayflower.

Plymouth To The New World

For Mike Hicks, there is also something particularly meaningful about creating this artwork from Plymouth. The Mayflower story is often told from the perspective of its destination. New Horizons deliberately begins somewhere else. Plymouth. The city where the story connects with the present day. The historic steps still exist. The harbour still exists. The sea is still there. And beyond that sea lies the same Atlantic that once had to be crossed by a small wooden ship carrying people towards an uncertain future.

More than four hundred years later, we can stand on the same shores and look towards the same horizon. That connection between past and present is what Mike wanted to capture. The people who sailed in 1620 could never have known what their voyage would eventually become. But we can look back now and understand that they were standing at the beginning of something enormous.

A Journey Beyond The Horizon

New Horizons is ultimately an artwork about possibility. About leaving. About looking forward. About accepting that the future cannot be seen clearly from where we stand. The Mayflower represents the journey. Plymouth represents where it began. The horizon represents everything that came afterwards. And that makes the artwork just as relevant today as the story that inspired it.

Because every generation has its own horizon. Every generation has its own unknown. And sooner or later, every journey reaches the same decision: Do you stay where you are, or do you sail?

Artwork Details

Title: New Horizons
Artist: Mike Hicks — Spike the Art
Location: Plymouth, Devon, England
Theme: The Mayflower • Plymouth • 1620 • Exploration • New Beginnings • The Atlantic Voyage
Edition: Limited edition of 500
Authentication: Individually serialised and registered through WooSerialiZe