Nested

by Maeve Billings

In Nested, a raccoon skull is delicately enclosed within the gaping jaw of a coyote skull, creating a layered meditation on death, predation, and containment. Painted in saturated oranges, violets, and ochres, the work draws on the traditions of still life and memento mori, yet resists nostalgia. Its bold color palette and expressive brushwork firmly place it in a contemporary context.\n\nThe composition plays with scale, intimacy, and power. The nested skulls echo cycles of life and consumption, of what’s held and what’s left behind. Both haunting and vibrant, Nested asks viewers to consider the bodies we inhabit, the ones we leave behind, and how those stories stack inside each other, bone within bone.