PEARLY PROCESSION
The chambered nautilus (Nautilus pompilius), also known as the pearly nautilus, has been one of the ocean's greatest mysteries. With a body form that remained unchanged for hundreds of millions of years, this ancient-looking cephalopod is slowly revealing itself to the study of the natural world as human exploration revealed more into its lifestyle and speciality. The nautilus generally inhabits dark, high-pressure environments 100–600 m (300 to 2,000 ft) below the ocean surface during the day. At night, these nocturnal creatures ascend to shallower depths of around 300 to 900 m (100 to 300 ft) to feed on carrion, crabs, and small fish more actively before descending back into the twilight zone by dawn.
The artist uses a black canvas as the backdrop to illustrate their preferred deep-sea habitat, and arranges the group in the shape of a question mark (?) to reflect the unknown secrets that remain buried within this species; yet to be observed in the wild. The artist paints this nautilus formation to study the vibrant and complex beauty of the natural world, driven by the challenge to bring out complicated colours, textures and patterns in his painting career.
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