Unseen 2022

Curator: Jason Limon created this intriguing acrylic painting in 2022, titled "Unseen". At first glance, it resembles a decaying mosaic, framing skeletal glimpses. Editor: It does! My immediate reaction is a sense of unsettling beauty. The faded colours of the tiles combined with the stark imagery of the skeletons creates a palpable tension. Curator: That tension, I think, is key to Limon's social commentary here. He juxtaposes the decorative—these ornate, almost Moorish-style tiles—with the very stark reminder of mortality: skulls and ribs. There’s a deliberate friction. Editor: Absolutely. The skeleton is, of course, a timeless symbol, appearing across cultures to remind us of our finite existence. And the lettering, scattered across the mosaic, spelling out the word "Unseen"–it hits you slowly, almost as a subliminal message. Curator: I wonder if that alludes to the social invisibility of death in contemporary culture? We sanitize and distance ourselves from it, keeping it largely "unseen," perhaps until it confronts us directly. Editor: That's an interesting point. There's also the vulnerability represented by the wound in the skeletal chest – the one with the little drip of red – breaking through the golden tile; it creates this visceral connection between the symbolic and our own flesh-and-blood reality. This heart imagery has an especially powerful connotation to the living; you know? Curator: Definitely. Consider the decorative elements: they aren’t purely aesthetic; they're part of a tradition, they indicate social codes. By placing death within that decorative framework, Limon implicates these structures in the act of obscuring the natural human condition, as though hiding an ugliness. Editor: This is more than just a memento mori. It questions the cultural and social structures that shape our perceptions and try to conceal parts of reality – our own inevitable end. Curator: Indeed. Limon masterfully uses this composition to subtly remind us that perhaps what we choose to ignore or keep “Unseen” has a power all its own. Editor: Yes, and on a more personal level, how can the consideration of a stark, visual symbol such as this aid our relationship with our future selves and awareness? These things matter. Thanks, Jason!