Pygmalion

Pygmalion, the King of Cyprus who cast a female figure out of ivory to have it brought to life by Aphrodite, is depicted here in this three-metre, four panel mural piece. A single colourway in Alabaster gives way to the decadence of this design, where rococo dolphins, giant artichokes, fennel, garlic bulbs and mollusk shells meet architectural detailing in a Baroque style. Strings of pearls and feathers contrast with stag beetles for the ultimate, decadent contradiction in mural form. Fascinated by the world of Trompe-l'oeil, Giles has captured this sense of an imaginary world, brought together through classical iconography with Surrealism in play. A wonderous sense of theatre, here the curtain is being drawn back to reveal an astonishing panorama with juxtapositions of scale, object versus landscape and a distorted view on classicism.