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Duke and Lume
062024–2026

Reliquaries

Reliquaries follows a single idea across many works: a plant form opened just enough to reveal the treasure it protects. Amber caught in a spent grain, turquoise wrapped in gauze, crystal blooming from stone — each is a small shrine to the act of keeping.

8 works

A photorealistic still life of a gnarled dark bough curled around a large smoky quartz crystal point and flowering with deep red plum blossom, standing on a cracked marble plinth veined with gold, against a gilded disc on a weathered plaster wall.
A heavily impasto painting of a large pastel flower — peach and cream petals — opening around a smooth banded blue-and-tan agate stone at its centre.
A vessel is an argument for keeping something.
A painterly lantern-shaped cage of dried oat stems and sheer gauze cradling a gold-veined turquoise egg, against thick sea-green and cream brushstrokes.
Seedkeeper2026
A painterly close-up of a violet-toned ear of wheat split open to reveal a glowing seam of orange amber, against dusty purple and slate-blue impasto strokes.
Ember Grain2026
A photorealistic ornate brass armillary cage enclosing a large smoky quartz orb, set with opal, garnet and pearl cabochons, mounted on a rough dark stone base veined with malachite against a gilded damask backdrop.
The Orb2026
A photorealistic still life of a large oyster shell standing upright and open, its rough grey outer crust curving around a lustrous mother-of-pearl interior that cradles a single oversized baroque pearl, against a mottled grey and bronze wall.
Nacre2026
A photorealistic macro of a dry cream-coloured husk split open to reveal several polished turquoise eggs veined with brown, nested in fine pale fibres.
The Clutch2026
A photorealistic close-up of a pink-and-cream bud whose bracts have parted around a faceted transparent crystal filled with a field of green and gold inclusions.
Chrysalis2026
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07Allegories