Pearl Earring ? The Skull Necklace 18" x 24" · Watercolour and ink on paper mounted to canvas · 2015–2024
Inspired by Vermeer's iconic Girl with a Pearl Earring, this intimate portrait reimagines the classic with my daughter Josie as the model. The pearl earring is replaced by a skull necklace—her honesty catching the light instead, illuminating the wonderful complexity beneath the surface.
The skull, as always, stands for the unmasked self: stripped of illusion, embodying raw truth and Eastern emptiness. Here it asks the viewer to confront the mystery Vermeer captured so masterfully—"Who is she?" "What is she thinking?"—while revealing the deeper, multifaceted layers of a loved one.
A layered meditation on identity, familial honesty, and the quiet revelations that light can expose—dark yet eternally optimistic.
Inquiries welcome for acquisition, studio view, or related works: blairaiken@raincage.com