Memento Mori (2025 – present) – Gizela Trzmiel Art

‘Remember that you must die’

Previously known as Solve x Coagula, Memento Mori is an ongoing series of paintings exploring the wonders and curiosities of the natural world. It examines the cycles of life, death, and rebirth present all around us. These still lifes feature a variety of fascinating plants, bones, insects, and other natural found objects, creating something akin to a visual cabinet of curiosities.

The compositions are reminiscent of traditional vanitas paintings, making the title all the more fitting. They balance the presence of life and death, hinting at the ever-fleeting nature of life and the worthlessness of material gains and pleasures. Though one must remember that there is hope in death, for everything ends only so that something else may begin. Like the famed philosopher’s stone, paint too can be a source of immortality. In paint, the objects are memorialised and given new purpose, and even the most dead and static are, in a way, brought to life. Acrylic paint, too, is made up of things that are long dead, and yet in the hands of any good painter, it comes alive.