The Ritual

The Ritual captures an authentic fragment of urban folklore deeply rooted in everyday street life. The painting portrays two close friends from the neighbourhood, completely absorbed in the precise act of rolling a joint. Within street culture, this is far more than a casual habit — it is a ritual, a shared daily practice that strengthens bonds and creates an atmosphere understood only by those who have lived within that environment.

Technically, the work combines the raw energy of the street with my distinctive approach to dark surrealism. The faces of the two figures emerge from the folds of crumpled paper, gradually revealed from a deep velvet-black background through the careful orchestration of chiaroscuro. They are illuminated by an intense neon-green glow that amplifies the scene's mysterious and intimate atmosphere.

Above one of the figures, a miniature origami bird wearing a crown appears as a symbolic guardian of the neighbourhood hierarchy. The Ritual resonates with the slow, heavy atmosphere of the city's nocturnal corners, elevating an ordinary subcultural practice into a timeless reflection on ritual, belonging, and human connection.