The Floating World
Samurai / Floating World & Butterfly Hunter (Matched Pair of Triptychs)
These two triptychs were painted as masked reflections of how we converse with ourselves from behind the fence, functioning as two sides of a false mirror.. One side shows the idealized, disciplined self we wish to present — stoic, controlled, and armored. The other reveals the hunter still chasing beauty and desire, even as it slips away.
The delicate grid acts as the fence we stand behind — a transparent but persistent barrier. We look past it, through it, trying to see ourselves clearly. The carbon drips and blackening layers slowly dissolve the structure, allowing moments of honest recognition to break through. Together, the paired triptychs create a tension across the space, like two sides of the same floating world — aspiration and truth, discipline and surrender.
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Samurai Carbon pencil and blackening watercolors made from captured industrial carbon, with inks on paper mounted to canvas· 2023–2025
The samurai sits poised, sword sheathed, battle mask removed. He gazes across the room toward his mirrored counterpart, seeing a vision of turmoil and danger. For a moment he believes he has stepped beyond the floating world. The black-and-white panels stand as absolute barriers, highlighting the separation between the real and the masked. Yet this too is a false mirror — the blackening layers slowly reveal that even the peaceful warrior still carries the weight of what he once was.
The mask of: The hunter / warrior we cannot stop being after the sin of experience.
The Butterfly Hunter Carbon pencil and blackening watercolors made from captured industrial carbon, with inks on paper mounted to canvas · 2023–2025
The modern samurai stands armed and masked, weapons drawn amid the fragile beauty he continues to destroy. He looks back across the room at the other warrior — the version of himself he wishes to become. The black-and-white panels function as rigid sculptural dividers, underscoring the absolute separation between reality and illusion, between the hunter/ warrior and the ideal. The blackening layers spread like consequence across the scene. Here the mask of pursuit remains firmly in place.
The mask of: The peaceful warrior we wish to become.
Thank you for experiencing these works.
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Studio visits, or related works: blairaiken@raincage.com
Dark yet hopeful.