This bold acrylic painting features nine deconstructed acid-house smiley faces scattered across a vivid yellow background, as if they’ve slipped or collapsed into the frame. Their once-familiar circular forms are broken into thick black arcs and ovals, intertwining in an energetic, almost chaotic rhythm. Perched delicately atop a few of these fragmented shapes are three small bees, their presence adding a moment of stillness and life amid the disorder.

Painted during the 2021 lockdown, the piece captures a palpable sense of uncertainty. The disassembled smiley faces evoke a feeling of something once whole now destabilized, their joyful symbolism disrupted. The bees, meanwhile, bring a quiet resilience—tiny observers navigating a world that has momentarily fallen apart.

The result is a balance of tension and hope: a visual diary of a time when even the brightest symbols felt unsettled, yet life, movement, and possibility persisted. Still smiling amongst the chaos.

Acrylic on Canvas - 60cm x 90cm

With black wooden frame.