Hilsdon Sirr’s fantastical deep-space paintings invite awe and curiosity, revealing the unity in our shared impulse to look up—“At times of seismic shift, staring at the stars is a great equaliser”. A Reflection on NASA’s enhanced astrophotography, and the tension between seeing and believing, the playful motifs and hyper-saturated colour offer a springboard for asking bigger questions.
The labour-intensive execution is intentional—to have you wondering if you could step into it—“I want to make escape hatches in the sweet spot between fear and wonder...a portal to touch something out of reach”.
Hilsdon Sirr graduated from Camberwell College, University of the Arts London, and worked as a design assistant on various projects, including a series of technical illustrations held in the archive of the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archeology, University of Oxford. Sirr has since worked full-time as a painting assistant to leading contemporary artists for over a decade.
