Still life with Fading Light - Anton Byrne-Carter X Banda Gallery

Part of a special collection created in collaboration with our Artist in Residence, this painting is an abstract reimagining of 17th-century Dutch still life. Inspired by artists like Jan Davidsz de Heem and Willem van Aelst, it dissolves the meticulous botanical precision of the Golden Age into a fluid symphony of motion and shadow. Deep umbers and sepia tones set the stage for spectral floral forms—obscured, fragmented, yet still alive—hovering between presence and disappearance.

Echoing the chiaroscuro of Dutch still life, the painting’s expressive marks and dark, atmospheric palette make light an elusive force, struggling to illuminate a world slipping into obscurity. Scratches and faint etchings hint at once-exquisite details, now abstracted like fading memories. Paint drips and scattered residue reinforce a sense of both creation and dissolution, transforming historical still life into something raw, evocative, and contemporary.