Ruby Newell

Legacy
Painting

My body of work addresses the idea of legacy – what we are given and what we carry on – in three portraits, representing my mother, my father and myself. The portraits use the art style of memento mori, ‘remember you must die’. The flower and the skull are contrasting symbols of life and death, reminding us of the delicate balance in which we live and the inevitability that life will eventually end. The colours also use traditional symbolism – purple for royalty, magic and wisdom; red for love, ambition and passion; and blue for loyalty, trust and peace.