The <Smoking Zodiac> series represents the cognitive dissonance man has regarding life: the irony that dances between the fleeting idealism of hedonistic life and the ever-imminent shadow of death. Each painting of the <Smoking Zodiac> series depicts an astrological figure smoking cigarettes: the figure stands solitarily on the planet the zodiac sign is ruled by, the foundational ground it must navigate to know thyself, while the cigarettes a modern day interpretation of “memento mori” (latin for “remember you must die”, also a symbolic trope that acts as a reminder of the inevitability of death).

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<Smoking Zodiacs:Shadow Work> consists of 2 paintings, each framed with eee Vintage Dior. A special capsule series that reflects the artist’s “shadow work”, the confrontation of one’s “shadow”. The “shadow”, coined by Carl Jung, is an unconscious aspect of one’s persona that the conscious ego does not identify, yet influences one’s thoughts, emotions and behaviors. Unlike the regular <Smoking Zodiac> series, the Shadow series depicts three zodiac figures: scorpio, pisces and taurus, which are the artist’s “big three” (Sun, Moon and Ascendant signs), the three main planetary points that are regarded as the three main pillars of one’s persona. The astrological motifs playfully depict the confrontation of the inner, outer, and social self.