A contemporary reinterpretation of the Seven Deadly Sins

A commonly heard lament of our modern society is the break-down of community, the loss of social values and the rise of individualism. Everyone for themselves is our central catch cry. What has caused this paradigm shift in society? Has consumerism resulted in a homogenised monoculture based on materialism and selfishness? How does a meritocracy affect and shape society and culture? Is there still room for empathy, compassion and community? Or are we doomed to be nothing more than bobble-headed vacuous birds, ruled by our individualism and materialistic needs?

The Cult of Me is a series of oil paintings exploring a contemporary reinterpretation of the Seven Deadly Sins. The paintings aim to break down the dominant language of consumerism, challenge the status quo and portray an alternative option to ‘going along’ with the crowd. The bobbly-headed bird people, ostentatiously crested but with deliberately dead eyes, symbolise pretention and a disinclination to think deeply, to engage in society or to care about anything beyond the scope of their own immediate concerns.

Inspired by the urban landscapes of Jeffrey Smart, the raw, anti-commercialism, graffiti-style paintings of Basquiat and the books Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton and Brave New World by Aldus Huxley.

The Cult of Me oil painting series

• Status Anxiety. Oil on board, 1225 x 800mm. Exhibited in the Newtown Community Art Awards show 10th – 12th March 2006. Winner “Highly Commended” award.
• Retail Therapy. Oil on board, 1225 x 600mm.
• Sloth. Oil on board, 1225 x 800mm.
• Ruins of Utopia. Oil on board, 1225 x 800mm.