Relic OF THE DIVIDED SELF

Relic of the Divided Self, textured mixed-media figurative painting by Irish artist Anthony Carey
  • Concealed skull-like form within layers of green plaster and paint in Relic of the Divided Self

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  • Partial profile and cruciform form emerging from the textured surface of Relic of the Divided Self

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  • Close-up of blue, red and white acrylic, silicone and mesh within the fractured central figure

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About the work

Relic Of The Divided Self approaches the human psyche as an archaeological site. Built through repeated layering, scraping and reworking, the painting’s fractured figure appears both uncovered and partially erased. The surface records each alteration, suggesting identity not as a stable image but as an accumulation of experience—marked by rupture, loss and repair.


A magpie, a skull-like form and a cruciform structure appear within the surrounding layers. Charged with associations of sorrow, mortality and belief, they remain uncertain: discovered fragments rather than fixed symbols. The work is not a literal self-portrait, yet it carries something of my own experience. It considers what remains concealed within us and what is revealed through time, fracture and change.


Artwork details
2026
Acrylic, plaster, silicone and mesh on canvas
60 × 60 cm
Currently unavailable for acquisition