Click image to view full screen
Heart Failure ( Isa Aiken ) Diptych: [ 60” x 44” panels ]· Carbon pencil, blackening watercolours, and inks on paper mounted to canvas · [ 2018–2025 ]
The many masks of the heart, and the realities of love.
In this large-scale diptych, the left panel shows my teenage daughter Isa wrapped in thick red blankets that take the shape of my own failing heart from the long-term consequences of 9/11. She holds the skull — my symbol of the unmasked self — enfolding her in a father’s enduring love and protection even as my own heart struggles. Six skulls loom over the left panel as promises to my children, of my love.
Inscribed across the image: “My heart stands before me, Relief to hope, A thousand years of lost love.”
The right panel completes the emotional landscape, depicting a woman who represents romantic love — born from years of layered pain, reflection, and eventual release. This work took over six years to complete, a testament to the slow unfolding of grief, love, and rebirth. Four skulls float in memory of love lost, and found.
At its core, this piece explores all the love and loss a man can carry — the fierce protectiveness of fatherhood alongside the ache of romantic connection. Through this reversed sacred image, the painting becomes a deeply personal prayer for healing and redemption.
Dark yet hopeful.
Studio view, or related works: blairaiken@raincage.com
Inspiration & Personal Connection
This painting draws inspiration from Geertgen tot Sint Jans’ *The Glorification of the Virgin* (c. 1490–1495). I reimagined the sacred composition as a diptych — as it originally was before the other side was lost — a detail that felt especially powerful to me. The "mask of the heart" refers to the emotional, protective, or social defenses individuals develop to hide their true feelings, vulnerabilities, and authentic self, particularly to avoid pain, rejection, or judgment. These masks act as a "shield" or armor for the heart, enabling people to navigate difficult situations or interpersonal relationships by presenting a different persona than what they actually feel.
On one side, the fabric is shaped like a heart, my heart wrapped around my child in fierce, protective love. On the other side is the love and loss that exists between me and my hope of love beyond family. My first child, Isa, holds my symbol — the skull — in the same tender way the Virgin holds Jesus.
The painting was begun in quiet hope for healing, before I fully understood I was facing my second major health battle after 9/11: heart failure. At the time, the girls’ mother and I were no longer together, and she did not allow me to tell the children I was sick. This work became my private way forward — a silent prayer when words were not permitted.
At its core, this piece expresses all the love and loss a man can carry. Through this reversed sacred image, it remains a deeply personal prayer for redemption and healing.
Dark yet hopeful.
Studio view, or related works: blairaiken@raincage.com
Dark yet hopeful.
← Previous Back to Portfolio Works Next →
← Previous Back to Selected Works Next →
Geertgen tot Sint Jans, The Glorification of the Virgin, c. 1490–1495