The Vertical Defiance (Dark) - Wood

2026-04-01T17:11:44+11:00

A Study of Physics, Leverage, and Human Will

"The Vertical Defiance" (Dark) is a tribute to the raw mechanics of strength. To the unobservant eye, this looks like flying. But as a former toolmaker, I see the physics: the friction, the fulcrum points, and the immense torque required to hold the human body perpendicular to a steel pole. It is a battle against gravity won through pure discipline.

I contrasted this brutal physical reality with the softness of my stylist’s palette. The figures are rendered with a gritty, textured realism—you can almost feel the chalk on their skin—while the background is a wash of watercolour smoke. It represents the moment where the struggle disappears, and the movement becomes art.