Darkness by Ryan Louder

Original oil painting on canvas by London artist Ryan Louder — a stark, haunting contemporary figurative piece from 2017 confronting mortality and stillness across cold blues, chalky whites, and deep teal-black shadows. A lone figure emerges from darkness to hold a skull aloft in quiet communion, surrounded by the silence of an empty void. Part of his REM intrusion collection.

Original oil painting on canvas. One of one, unframed. An open-edition A3 fine art print is also available via the options above.

This piece captures the raw perceptual intensity of sleep paralysis and hypnagogic visions. Through my neurological condition — narcolepsy with REM intrusion, diagnosed at Guy's Hospital in London — vivid dream phenomena regularly cross into waking awareness. The hyper-real bone set against the dissolving, cold-toned figure reflects that sudden clarity inside the dream state, where fear resolves into quiet acceptance.

Carefully packaged and dispatched fully insured from my London studio. One of one — when it's gone, it's gone.