BEYOND THE VANITAS 2024

In the genre of the Still Life this work takes the skull from the painting tradition into the formats of the digital and virtual. The image shows a skull rendered in the Jimmy C painting style, which gradually atomises into the void before reforming itself. This is looped and refers to the cosmic cycles of life, death, and rebirth. In the VR piece, developed in collaboration with Stuart Cupit from Solarflare Studio, the viewer experiences the skull floating in space in front them and is able to walk around it and navigate the space. As the skull gradually atomises the viewer becomes immersed in a field of floating spheres.

The piece was later adapted for the Pivotal exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in 2024 in partnership with Sedition and Muse Frame. Here the viewer could view the physical painting as well as interacting with the atomising skull in a Mixed Reality format.