The Armoury [Dimensions: e.g., 48" x 72" or your actual size] · Carbon pencil, blackening watercolours, and inks on paper mounted to canvas · [2019–2025]
This work transforms the armoury from a literal storehouse of weapons into a psychological fortress—the place where defenses are forged, maintained, and ultimately tested. Rows of blades, shields, helmets, and spears stand in silent ranks, their surfaces gleaming with the weight of preparation and the shadow of use.
Yet the blackening layers seep into every crevice, revealing cracks in the metal, rust beneath the polish, and the slow erosion of what was meant to protect. The armoury is no longer just protection; it is the unmasked self laid bare—the accumulated scars of battles fought, avoided, or imagined. What was built to shield now carries the memory of every blow it was designed to absorb.
A meditation on defense, vulnerability, the cost of armoring oneself against the world, and the quiet revelation that true strength often emerges when the walls begin to fail—dark yet eternally optimistic in its acknowledgment of fragility.
Inquiries welcome for acquisition, studio view, or related works: blairaiken@raincage.com
Each image has a skull inked upon it, asking the viewer to explore the truth about these devices, whatever your opinion.