JUNE 24TH, 2022
Each week artists are commissioned for a piece of art through the UNDRGRND Grant Program. 100 NFTs are minted and are randomly airdropped to UNDRGRND Membership Cardholders. To find out how you can be featured as an UNDRGRND Artist check out our Discord.
Live as if you were to die tomorrow – Mahatma Gandhi.
Death is not a popular theme for everyday conversation. Some people may avoid the topic of death because of the effects the word can have: grief, sadness, depression, anger, guilt, etc. Despite various interpretations of what will happen afterward, one thing is sure: death is inevitable for all living things. What remains a mystery is we never know when it will come to us.
Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's quote above and based on self-reflection about death, Vince created this work entitled "An Inch From Death." A black-and-white portrait sketch of a beautiful young girl with black hair surrounded by flowers and circles. The girl in this work is a random figure without a name from the artist’s imagination. However, Vince used several reference photos for the anatomical formation of the object.
The melancholic lady looks like she's staring at something with a flat expression. Although no tears are running down her cheeks, it could be implied that she had just cried. The black areas under her eyes and nose represent a slightly swollen and reddened face due to the dilated blood vessels and increased blood flow caused by crying. No one knows what made her cry, maybe because she was sad, or perhaps it was tears of joy. It remains a mystery, as mysterious as death.
On the front and back of the lady are clusters of uniquely shaped compound flowers, with long projecting stamens. The flowers are arranged on a single stalk, with narrow segments, and are curved backward, forming a spider’s shape, thus the name "Red Spider Lily.” This flower comes from China but is often found growing wild in Japan and symbolizes death. The Japanese call this flower by the name "higanbana ."Higanbana comes from the word "higan," or "distant shore," representing the afterlife, a gathering place for spirits who have left the human world. Japanese people have a tradition of putting higanbana flowers near graves during funeral ceremonies as a form of respect.
Higanbana leaves and flowers never grow at the same time. If the flowers bloom, the leaves will fall. When the leaves grow, the flowers will wither. That is why, apart from being used as a symbol of death, higanbana is also closely related to separation. Some Japanese believe that when they see someone for the last time, higanbana flowers will bloom along the road.
The higanbana flowers surrounding the girl visualize how close humans are to death. So close, it can come at any time without us realizing it, like the girl who stays innocent without knowing that she is indeed an inch from death. Meanwhile, the circles around the female's figure can be interpreted as divine light as the determinant of death.
Vince drew this sketch manually using a pencil on paper. He then scanned the drawing and smoothed it with the Photoshop application. The artist worked on this sketch meticulously for a week, and the most challenging part for him was the higanbana object.
The pencil lines emphasize beautiful details in several places, whether it's the female object, the flowers, or the circles. Vince uses a hatching technique without blending at the end, resulting in a not-so-smooth finish. The method provides depth and texture, creating a magical illusion of three-dimensional reality. The result is evident in several parts, from the girl’s hair, neck, and skin tone to the texture of the higanbana flower.
Black shading under the girl’s eyes and nose gives a dramatic effect and a mystifying impression on the figure. The flowers and the circles' placing composition fit nicely around the female object, bringing balance to this portrait sketch.
Realizing that death is unpredictable and can be imminent, the artist tries to remind viewers to be more grateful for what we have right now and live life to the fullest.
