Giles Alexander Saturn devouring his son

Saturn devouring his son is a 21st-century take on the well-known mythological theme made iconic as part of Francisco Goya’s ‘black paintings’ cycle. My rendition takes as its central theme the ongoing clash between faith and reason.

Authorship in painting and the increasingly sophisticated illusionism of technology is a major driving force for my practice. Religion and science have both profoundly shaped art but have themselves been defined by the power of the image. While often pitched as polar opposites, I prefer to treat them as flip sides of the same coin. I appropriate and reference art history and digital media from diverse origins to find ways of reinventing the traditional and the handmade.

- Giles Alexander