It always comes as a delight when your images inspire clients enough to ask to commission some more. Cease2Xist, now celebrating 10 years of music creation, approached needing surreal images to breathe visual into their industrial electro music. It’s dark, it’s brutal, the lyrics are exquisite and meaningfully nihilist. Whilst in lock down, I’ve been re-approaching my work and bringing it to a more personal level. Having the time to investigate and regurgitate through imagery. It’s been a growing process both internally and in developing skills, but working with someone else’s ‘vision’ using the surrealist of image work was a whole new field. Fortunately Dayve Yates, frontman and creative energy of Cease2Xist not only understands this but has an ease of communication which made this process easy. I was given lyrics, and imagery pointers with which to work, as well as critique on drafts which ensured I was able to produce e-squeals of ‘THAT’S IT!!!!’

The first image is for ’Chrysalis’ , a wry yet truthful look as to how we manifest our growing hopes and fears in an ever changing world, made seriously transparent in the global crisis just now.Tongue in cheek romanticizing of the pupae to  butterfly whilst knowing the change will come whether or whether not we are ready.

We agreed on the ‘Guardian’ image because of the inherent idea of choice and change we all have when faced with a door. Stand aside? or Turn away?

‘L’appel du vide’ ( translation: ‘call of the void’), which is about a week away from release, deals with much darker themes. Although they may never be spoken of , I imagine these thoughts will and do happen. In Dayve’s words, ‘the track is all about intrusive thoughts, and wishing someone dead’. The form in the image I entitled ‘Fatal Hope’ is the victim and as someone on my instagram feed commented ’ she emerged from despair to the blood of hope’. Light from darkness? Endless call of the void? 

The tracks will be released episodically, building towards a final full release. So do follow Cease2Xist on Bandcamp and buy the music!