Charcoal, oil, acrylic, holographic Yu-Gi-Oh cards, coloured pencil on wooden panel
24x30in
2026

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After my 2025 solo show, I wanted to keep working with holographic Yu-Gi-Oh cards as a material. They are not an image of my childhood. They are the object itself, cut up and set into the surface.

Another grid piece. The figure reads heavily masculine — rugged, muscular — and timid at the same time, because there is no face to confront you and the title says out loud what is happening. Raw holographic colour against a black charcoal figure is the whole tension of the work: the melancholy of the present against the joy of the past.

The tears take a parametric form. I love mathematics, but I drew these by hand rather than generating them, because what I am after is the echo of an influence rather than the influence itself. That echo is what lets you stay present.

The tears run off the edge of the panel, so the direction of flow stays ambiguous. Either they are watering an earlier version of me, or joy from that earlier self is funnelling up into who I am now, reminding me that life is beautiful.

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This is a 1 of 1 original. No prints of this piece will be made.

The work comes with a certificate of authenticity and ships in a natural oak frame.

If you'd like additional images or to learn more about this piece before acquiring it, email me directly at nashid@nashidchroma.com. If you're located in Toronto, I'm happy to deliver the work and install it in your home.