Aerial Thermometry series

EXTRATERRITORIAL_ABDUCTION

Oil on canvas
128x99cm
2025

The largest and newest painting in my aerial thermometry series. I’ve been painting from thermal images and aerial photos, and looking at other forms of surveillance technology used in scientific and military applications. Where the first six paintings were small and each focused on a single image, this work features multiple images arranged across the surface. I have long been interested in “picture in picture” compositions in painting, having used the motif multiple times, and I keep returning to it. This type of composition seems relevant in an era so dominated by an array of screens with simultaneous displays. I have been drawn to the aesthetics of technology, including scientific and military, since I was a child. I used to draw detailed maps and battle scenes full of machinery and high-tech weapons as early as age 5. I have returned to this kind of visual language as an adult, where it has met my interest in politics and anthropology. I have been adapting imagery of landscapes, machines, medical science and archaeology to interrogate my beliefs and understanding of the world. The imagery in this painting references volcanic activity, military aircraft and airbases, thermometry, and space travel. It resembles the kind of multi-display screens in science fiction or a pinboard used by conspiracy theorists.

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