Stephen Appleby-Barr’s paintings juxtapose fantastical and everyday objects, conjuring a dreamlike world which verges on the uncanny. Appleby-Barr sees his art as storytelling, touring museums and city streets in the search for characters and sets to introduce into his otherworldly universe. His dark, intimate settings, rich colours and dramatic lighting recall the work of renowned Baroque artists such as Caravaggio.

The present work depicts a battle scene that is not quite of this world. A nude figure of a woman stands facing a force of anthropomorphic creatures with human bodies and birdlike heads. She appears to have slain one of these creatures, their leader as indicated by the crown atop its head, as she displays its severed head for all to see and its human-like body lies at her feet. The scene is fantastical and otherworldly, yet it recalls aspects of works of the Old Masters: scenes of David with the head of Goliath or Judith with the head of Holofernes. The work remains enigmatic, providing nothing but cryptic notes along the margins of the work alluding to the circumstances surrounding the depicted conflict. The result, as characteristic of Appleby-Barr, is a mystical scene which blends the old tradition with an imaginative narrative, imbued with a sense of mystery.