The gravitas of Vanitas is timeless; it advises us to enjoy the bounty of life, for it is fragile and fleeting. This classical genre of still life was introduced by Dutch artists in the 16th century and remains profoundly compelling today.

Dirk's Vanitas Vessels leverage his skillful modelling and painterly abilities alongside his innovative glazing and firing techniques. By applying a slip with a lower temperature tolerance than the glaze, and precisely controlling the timing of the firing, Dirk executes a tightly controlled 'melting' of his perfectly painted imagery. Pairing his technical mastery with his exceptional talent for rendering representational imagery in two and three dimensions, the result is a stunning and unparalleled contemporary embodiment of the Vanitas genre for the 21st Century.