Chris Sheridan - "The King of Change" Artist's Statement
This body of work explores the ordinary routine of Death. Far from the embodiment of evil as seen by many cultures, I see Death as a part of each of us, ever present, tasked with maintaining a balance on life, and guiding us through a series of changes. The act of death is not an end, it is the beginning of the next stage in our soul's journey; Death is merely waiting for the point at which we are ready to leave the Earthly constraints of our bodies, and guide us to the next stage. For this I have called him, and the body of work, The King of Change.

There are many places I have drawn my ideas of Death from, recently it was my reading of the Grimm's Fairytale, "Godfather Death." In early Germanic traditions he was seen as the keeper of a vast hall of candles, each representing an individual life. As the candle burned, so your life changed, and as the candle started to fizzle near its end, your life became that much closer to its end; upon the extinguishing of your particular flame, Death would make himself known and guide you to the afterlife. This theory of Death as a "guide" has carried over in many other cultures; it has been given the title, Psycopomop, literally meaning the "guider of souls."

In these paintings, some explore him, some his actions, some even his interaction with living beings. The candles are a constant. Gone are the ghastly portrayals of him ending life, and the hauntingly empty face of the deceased; instead he is pictured in a dance with the living, sharing in life and in the light.