MEMENTO MORI
Study of an archaeological photograph of the cranium that belonged to a distant ancestor. Oil painting on canvas, it features bright yellow ochre and sandy hues and is a study on color values in loose impressionistic brushstrokes.
Memento mori: Skull study, 2024. Oil on canvas, 10x 10".
The temporal lives we live are the morbid reminders of our mortality.
Hindered and thrusted by time, we are but memories in a sea of change.
The memento mori is a common theme found in art, and one that dwells on the minds of many artists. Memento mori, reminder of death, is Vama Kali the destroyer, the ever looming presence of inevitable ending. With a beginning comes an end, and that dichotomy is one that rings through time in the brushstrokes of art made by God-fearing Protestants and Catholics, in ancient Mayan sculptures, found in the catacombs of Paris, in ceremonial burials and tombstones, reformed in art throughout time.
Images of death and symbols like the skull epitomize an archetype for the living to be reminded of, one that can appeal to our conscious in thoughtful awaken-ness, or in our subconscious wandering like within dreams and nightmares. A symbol, like the image of a skull, can bring the unspoken synopsis of death in itself through its imagery.
The grim reaper is our own shadow, a sundial that chronicles our brief time on earth, the ever-bearing pressure of time slipping and a desire to do something before the whole thing folds in on itself like the ouroboros consuming its tail. Death as an archetype manifests in common motifs, symbols and signs... and becomes a drive for the living, widening our perception and giving purpose to what we do and how we spend our time.
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