Black Sun

Black Sun

£2,200.00

Oil on Canvas (2023), 100 × 120cm

Black Sun presents a reclining figure suspended between eclipse and illumination, developed from the artist’s own photographic source and translated through the slow material processes of oil painting.

Drawing on Renaissance traditions of the monumental body and the symbolic charge of celestial phenomena, the work refigures the eclipse as an alchemical threshold. In alchemical thought, the black sun signifies the nigredo - a stage of dissolution in which identity, matter, and perception are broken down so that transformation can occur. Here, darkness is not absence but generative potential: a condition through which renewal becomes possible.

Light operates as substance rather than description, enveloping the figure in an atmospheric field that collapses boundaries between interior and exterior, body and cosmos.

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My paintings are created using artist-grade, high pigment oil paints on carefully prepared cotton or linen canvas, chosen for their durability, surface quality, and ability to hold subtle layers of colour over time. Each canvas is triple-primed to create a stable, archival surface that allows for both precision and luminosity within the paint.

The works are built slowly through layered glazing techniques inspired by Renaissance painting methods. Thin translucent layers of oil colour are applied over time to create depth, atmosphere, and shifts in light that cannot be achieved through direct painting alone. This process allows light to travel through the paint surface and reflect back outward, giving the work its characteristic glow and sense of inner luminosity.

I use a combination of controlled modelling, sfumato, and transparent colour layering to create delicate tonal transitions, rich shadows, and heightened colour vibration while retaining clarity of form and detail. The final surface is carefully varnished once fully cured, enriching colour depth, unifying the finish, and providing long-term protection for the painting.

Every material choice is made with permanence, visual depth, and collector longevity in mind, allowing the paintings to function not only as images, but as crafted objects designed to endure across time.