The Heptad, 2024

Building on the tradition of 17th century Dutch vanitas paintings, and incorporating elements of sacred geometry, this piece addresses the impermanence of form and identity and contrasts it with the persistence of matter and energy.

Objects symbolising wealth, culture, and knowledge are replaced by a single flat surface with graphic livery, referencing industrial or geopolitical insignia signifying corresponding resources and influence.

Instead of grinning skulls and wilting flowers, layers of exposed paint and rust-like marks suggest the accumulation of experience, decay, and the transition from one state to another.

The piece is composed of carefully selected, salvaged post-consumer and post-industrial paints, diverting them from landfill and incineration. These are combined with materials that biogenically store carbon. This methodology is conceptually significant to the work, deliberately echoing the repurposing of energy and matter in ecological, biological and cosmological systems.

In Pythagorean mysticism, seven (the Heptad) was revered as a uniquely sacred “virgin” number. It represents the union of the divine triad and the physical tetrad, signifying cosmic order, the celestial spheres, and the cyclical transformation of matter across time.

Previous civilisations leave us their legacies through knowledge, culture and artefacts. This piece is part of my obligation to transform less desirable aspects of our existence, such as generational pollution and climate altering emissions, into something more beneficial for future generations.

10% of sales proceeds are donated to Client Earth or an approved environmental charity of your choice.