The Death of Actaeon [Dimensions: e.g., 60" x 96" or your actual size] · Carbon pencil, blackening watercolours, and inks on paper mounted to canvas · [Year if known, e.g., 2018–2024]
This large-scale work reimagines Ovid's myth: Actaeon, the hunter, stumbles upon Diana bathing and is punished with transformation into a stag—torn apart by his own hounds. The central figure twists in agony, antlers sprouting, human features dissolving into animal panic as the pack closes in.
The blackening drips cascade like blood and water from the sacred pool, layering the scene in shadow and revelation. Diana stands apart, gaze cold and unyielding—her nudity not vulnerability but power, her wrath a mirror of the gaze that violated her. The hounds, once loyal, now feast on the one who commanded them, embodying betrayal from within.
The piece confronts the cost of seeing what is forbidden: the unmasked self exposed, innocence shattered, the hunter becoming prey. In the frenzy, a faint light persists—the possibility of rebirth through destruction, wisdom born of violent truth.
A meditation on voyeurism, punishment, transformation, and the dark optimism that emerges when the self is fully stripped and consumed—eternally hopeful in the aftermath of ruin.
Inquiries welcome for acquisition, studio view, or related works: blairaiken@raincage.com