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Butterfly Hunter Triptych: ·[ 44” x 70” panels ] ·Carbon pencil, blackening watercolours, and inks on paper mounted to canvas · [ 2023–2025 ]
The mask of pursuit and control of things we think matter.
Butterfly hunting is a conflicted activity: a desire for beauty met with small acts of repeated violence — killing butterflies — both justified by science in the name of preservation. We preserve something by taking its life. The very act of collecting butterflies for their beauty ultimately destroys them.
The hunter outguns the problem entirely. This work calls into question the central dilemma of the pursuit of beauty and science: “Should we, just because we can?” It asks us to protect science and society without unnecessary loss — to think through discoveries carefully and consider their impact on us all, as we collect them..
In the painting, a modern samurai in contemporary armor stands amid the floating world, weapon drawn, battle mask in place. He watches and appreciates the delicate butterflies for the first time, no longer collecting or conquering them. The blackening layers spread like shadows across the scene, tracing accumulated consequence and the quiet erosion of certainty, as two skulled figures frame him with the truth over the glory, or drag him back into the depths behind him.
As we explore the growth of AI — its beauty, our search for answers, and the control it exerts over beauty and life’s understanding — this piece asks: What will it mean to society if circular energy and widespread super intelligence become reality?
The artist pursues truly circular energy solutions, AI, etc through his business interests and related innovations that enable such possibilities, while interrogating their hidden costs and human shadows. We wear a mask when we pursue science or beauty and can not consider only ourselves, ignoring the larger consequences.
Dark yet hopeful.
Studio view, or related works: blairaiken@raincage.com
Inspiration & Personal Connection
This painting draws inspiration from traditional Japanese ukiyo-e “floating world” screens I first encountered as a teenager when I lived in Japan. I was captivated by the way elements merged and flowed into one another — trees, water, figures, and sky becoming something greater than decoration. The floating world was never meant to be a static wall; it was a door — an invitation to step beyond the ordinary and enter a more fluid, dreamlike reality. The psychological mask of hunting butterflies is a complex blend of control, superficial accomplishment, and the desire to possess beauty, often serving as a substitute for true inner self-worth
In my version, a modern samurai — dressed in contemporary armour and carrying modern weapons and masked — hunts a butterfly in this merging world. The contrast is deliberate: the disciplined warrior, trained for battle, now pursuing something delicate and fleeting. The blackening layers trace the tension between strength and fragility, control and surrender, the heavy code of honour and the gentle impermanence of beauty.
AI now broadens and extends this concept in powerful new ways — allowing the floating world to continue expanding, merging, and evolving beyond the edges of the canvas in real time, turning the painting into a living door rather than a fixed wall.
The painting asks a quiet question: what happens when the warrior learns to chase beauty instead of conquest?
Dark yet hopeful.
Studio view, or related works: blairaiken@raincage.com
Dark yet hopeful.
Traditional Japanese ukiyo-e “floating world” screens