About Statement

The Skull Portraits: A Final Gathering is the fifth and final skull portrait series by British artist Alexander de Cadenet. It is made up of 800 Skull Portraits drawn from 65 specially selected skull x-ray records of actual individuals and 40 'anomalies' derived from the artist's thirty year Skull Portrait archive, and also includes hand-drawn digital portraits.

Each archetype represents a figure from history or contemporary times. The subjects are assigned an archetype, and their identifying names are never assigned directly to the portraits, remaining anonymous.

The series explores both the multi-faceted aspects of the individual psyches presented and, as a collective, represents different aspects of the artist's own psyche — exploring the traces the subjects have left upon him either through direct experience or the impact of their symbolic value.

The permanence and traceability of blockchain technology offers a fitting medium for works that reflect on time, identity, and what endures.

Artist Bio

Alexander de Cadenet is a British artist who has been making 'skull portraits' for the past thirty years. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums internationally and has received widespread critical acclaim. He defines his art as "a way to metabolize life and give meaning."