What Is Fear | Original Art | Illustration
Medium: Mixed media – Ink, Acrylic on Paper
Style: Expressive, Abstract, Symbolic
Techniques: Sharp contrast, bold structured forms, layered symbolism
Palette: Deep reds, blacks, and sharp highlights, evoking power, ritual, and psychological intensity
Key Features:
• The structured geometric balance hints at ritual, tribal energy, and ancient symbology.
• The darkened moon and central blooming figure suggest transformation, cycles, and the duality of growth and control.
• A butterfly in motion, representing the fleeting nature of fear and change.
• The lower marks resemble counting or tallying, symbolising time, history, and repetition.
Description:
Created during Chapter 2 (2020 - 2023), this piece is part of the Versions of Robert Collection—a deeply personal body of work reflecting my journey through my mother’s stroke, dissociation, and eventual dementia. This period of my life involved immense inner soul work, each piece acting as a page in a diary, often accompanied by a poem or story.
“What Is Fear” explores the paradox of fear and its seductive power. Fear is not always an enemy—it can feel like a lover, a companion, a force that refuses to let go. The bold, symbolic composition invites us to confront our relationship with fear, questioning its role in our growth, stagnation, and emotional attachments.
The deep red tones and structured elements create an almost ceremonial atmosphere, as if fear itself is being summoned or worshipped. The abstract floral form at the centre blooms like a dark offering, held in place by the weight of fear’s influence. The piece urges the viewer to ask: Is fear something we invite? Do we desire its presence? Or does it hold us against our will?
Fear—do we run from it, or do we embrace it?
Details:
- Size: A4 Illustration
- Material: Mixed media on paper
- Unframed
- Original, signed by the artist
- Limited Edition Giclée Prints Available – 150 prints total across three sizes, including the original size
