An Open Cycle of Action Still Life Paintings (2009–)

Memento Vivere is an open cycle of action still life paintings starring a living cartoon skull as its recurring protagonist. Recasting the traditional memento mori—“remember that you must die”—as memento vivere—“remember to live”—the series turns the skull from a static emblem of mortality into an active figure within the world of the living. Each painting stands on its own while contributing to a larger visual universe and an evolving narrative rooted in the traditions of Vanitas and allegory.

Constructed as theatrical tableaux, the paintings capture unfolding actions suspended like frames from animated films. Relics, artefacts, symbolic objects and personal props inhabit these painted worlds, where mythology, religion, science, art history and popular culture intersect within self-contained cosmologies. Like visual fugues, recurring figures, objects and symbols appear, disappear and return in new constellations, weaving multiple simultaneous voices into complex compositions. Latin inscriptions function as titles, clues and narrative devices.

Inspired by classic cartoons and animated films, Memento Vivere recasts the traditions of Vanitas and allegory in one of the modern world’s most universal visual languages.