Digital Artworks : Vida Collection

'Vida' is the Spanish word for life. This series delves deeply into the meaning of life, death and the in-between.

Each artwork starts up as an idea in my brain, inspired by a wide variety of stimuli. I'm often triggered by words and sentences from poems, books or everyday conversations. Sometimes the ideas come to me in my sleep or visions when I meditate. And many ideas evolve from visual material that I collect. The ideas begin as sketches which are then refined into drawings and paintings. Some I take to the next level and they become animated with subtle movements. Some also become paintings and prints.

Consolation with Death

Inspired by an unexpected incident in which I found myself in hospital.... There's something about being forced into an unconscious state with the aid of an anaesthetic, that puts the fear of death in me. As I waited for the darkness to render me unconscious, I found myself thinking about death. The thoughts that follow inspired me to create this artwork.

There are only two certainties in life: we are born and we die.

The first certainty is welcomed with great joy and celebration. The second certainty is mourned with grief and sadness. Both certainties are filled with unknowns, for example, we don't know if that tiny being that has just taken its first breath will lead a fulfilling and happy existence. And we don't know that the last breath will take us into a void of unhappiness. Our perception of death is built upon selfish anguish, because what we love has been taken from us. Yet if we pause, and reconsider. Perhaps, we can accept a certain consolation with death and imagine that death might be simply a new beginning for that soul to explore.