OAK x AI

»Girl without a pearl ear ring« Not a remake but a visible homage to Jan Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring". The black and white photograph focuses on a transformative subject: the idea of vanitas. Instead of a pearl earring, a stylized skull adorns the pretty girl's head as a memento mori. Inspired by the legendary cinema classic "Blow Up", the model's look resembles that of the young Vanessa Redgrave, enigmatic and disturbingly unapproachable; exaggerated by the waxy, porcelain-like make-up. The original painting by Vermeer was recently the victim of a paint attack by climate activists from "Just Stop Oil". Similar to the "Portrait of Dorian Gray", the traces of the attack can now be found here in the image. What is beauty? What is a sacrilege? "Transformation is an ongoing process that tends to appear ordinary, when, in fact, something extraordinary is taking place." (Suzy Ross).