Priest, Portrait of Scientist [ 36” x 48” ] Carbon pencil and blackening watercolors made from captured industrial carbon, with inks on paper mounted to canvas· [ 2015–2025 ]
The mask of knowing, and the realization that much of the miracle of science is miracle.
This painting explores silence, moral weight, and inner conflict. The central figure sits in quiet authority, yet the skull looms above — a reminder that even those who seek truth wear masks.
Written on the canvas: “Should we die, or kill for our beliefs?”
I have invented things that caused harm. This haunts me and forces me to ask: Who am I?
Studio view, or related works: blairaiken@raincage.com
Inspiration & Personal Connection
This painting draws inspiration from Diego Velázquez’s iconic *Portrait of Pope Innocent X* (c. 1650), a work I first encountered a version of at the Gardner Museum in Boston and later saw the original in Italy ( Galleria Doria Pamphilj ). Additionally I was also deeply affected by Francis Bacon’s haunting reinterpretations of the same image, which drove me to try this myself in my work. The psychological mask worn by a person expected to have all the answers—such as a religious leader, expert, scientist, or figurehead—despite not fully understanding.
The connection became painfully personal when a close friend suffered a serious surfing accident and sat upright in a hospital bed in Hawaii, immobilized in a neck brace. In that moment, all I could see was Velázquez’s portrait — the intense, unflinching gaze, the trapped intelligence, the weight of vulnerability beneath the ceremonial ( hospital) robes, of not wanting others to worry.
In my version, I explore that same raw confrontation: the masked stare, the tension between power and fragility, and the quiet human struggle beneath any outward authority or mask. The blackening layers trace the slow accumulation of consequence, isolation, and endurance.
Yet even in this moment of stillness and restraint, a faint light persists — a reminder that honesty, however uncomfortable, can still open the way toward understanding and hope.
Studio view, or related works: blairaiken@raincage.com
Dark yet hopeful.
Diego Velázquez’s iconic *Portrait of Pope Innocent X* (c. 1650),