STILL LIFE (DARK BACKGROUND), November 2025

This Still Life brings together objects I've collected over fifty years: carved crocodiles, a Golden Syrup tin decorated with beads by my sister, and a gourd from Ethiopia. These things carry long histories with me, and painting them together raised questions about what they reveal and what remains hidden. The collection speaks to what you don't know, maybe what you can’t know.

I worked on stone paper over a red ground. The experiment here was using a dark background, a departure from my usual approach. The darkness reinforces this sense of concealment and mystery, framing the objects while keeping something back. I'm happy with how it holds this collection together, allowing individual forms to emerge from shadow. The red ground glows beneath the dark tones, adding warmth and depth to the composition.

Acrylic on Stone Paper, 29 × 42 cm