Ardere (2023)

Ardere (Latin for to burn) is a digital painting created in 2023. The piece captures a quiet, intimate moment: a young woman sitting in a bathtub, cradling a small flame in her hands. The contrast between her calm expression and the fragile firelight reflects themes of resilience, fragility, and inner strength.

The work was born from my fascination with the symbolism of fire, both destructive and life-giving. Here, the flame becomes a metaphor for holding onto something fleeting: hope, memory, or the remnants of warmth in dark times. The title, Ardere, connects to the duality of fire as both comfort and danger, echoing the baroque and romanticist traditions of using light as a vehicle for drama and emotion.

This digital painting was created in Procreate using a painterly style, inspired by chiaroscuro lighting and classical oil painting textures. The subdued palette and textured brushstrokes give the piece a timeless quality, blurring the line between digital and traditional mediums. The glow of the flame was layered with subtle luminosity effects to create a sense of fragile realism, drawing the viewer’s gaze toward the centre of the composition.

Ardere invites the viewer to reflect on what we cling to in moments of isolation — the spark we try to preserve when everything else fades into shadow. The quiet ritual of protecting a flame becomes an allegory for protecting oneself.

Prints and originals of this piece are subject to availability. Please contact me directly for more information.