A GAME OF ARMS
A Game of Arms , acrylic on canvas, 2025. 36" X 24" (91.4 × 61 cm) The painting depicts an octopus and a squid playing chess. The squid is the beginner in this scene, playing against the more professional octopus. Both cephalopods are shown to be multi-tasking, with their arms holding various objects such as guide books for playing chess. This painting is inspired by the notion of cephalopod cognition, which is proven through intelligence experiments carried out on octopi and their relatives, including object manipulation and learning. For example, cuttlefish have been shown to have the capacity for future planning and reward processing after being tested with a marshmallow experiment.