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, plaster and silicone within the fractured central figure

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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, its fractured figure appears to have been uncovered from within the painting while remaining partly buried in its surface. Earlier marks and forms have not disappeared completely; they persist as traces beneath what came later.


The process reflects how I have come to understand identity through my own experience. We are continually shaped by what happens to us, but earlier versions of ourselves are not simply replaced. They remain within us—sometimes concealed, sometimes unexpectedly revealed. Although the work is not a literal self-portrait, I recognise myself in the divided and partially erased figure.


A magpie, a skull-like form and a cruciform structure emerge from the surrounding layers. They carry possible associations with sorrow, mortality and belief, but I do not see them as fixed symbols. They are closer to discovered fragments: images that surfaced through making and whose meanings remain uncertain.


The painting does not attempt to reunite the figure or resolve its divisions. Instead, it considers what survives within us through time and change—what is buried, what returns and what can never be entirely erased.


Artwork details
2026
Acrylic, plaster, silicone and mesh on canvas
60 × 60 cm


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