The Celestial Threshold:
Starman, David Bowie and the Mythologies of Space
Ten Years Since Bowie's Departure
January 2026 marked ten years since David Bowie left our world. A decade later, his presence remains remarkably strong, not only through his music but through the many identities, characters and artistic worlds he created. Bowie was much more than a rock musician. He was an artist who continually questioned the boundaries between music, performance, identity and imagination. Few performers have explored the relationship between the person and the persona with such freedom, or made transformation such an essential part of their artistic language.
It is this aspect of Bowie that lies at the heart of Starman, which will be presented publicly for the first time at Art Athina 2026.
Rather than offering a nostalgic portrait of a musical legend, the painting imagines a meeting between David Bowie and one of his most celebrated creations, Ziggy Stardust. Set against a vast celestial landscape, the two figures share an extraordinary journey beyond the familiar boundaries of time and place. The painting explores identity, transformation and the lasting relationship between an artist and the worlds he brings into existence.
The Double Identity:
Creator and Persona
At the centre of Starman is an unusual meeting: David Bowie sits beside Ziggy Stardust, the otherworldly character who helped transform his career and became one of the most recognisable figures in popular culture.
Introduced in 1972, Ziggy was far more than a stage costume or a theatrical disguise. Through this persona, Bowie created an entire artistic identity, complete with its own appearance, mythology and musical language. He used Ziggy to explore ideas that extended beyond the conventions of rock performance, challenging the boundaries between the performer and the character, the individual and the archetype.
In the painting, Bowie and Ziggy occupy the same space, each retaining a distinct presence.
Bowie appears in a reflective, almost relaxed posture, holding his astronaut helmet. His expression is gentle and composed. He represents the artist behind the creation, the person whose imagination gave life to an extraordinary alter ego.
Beside him, Ziggy Stardust appears in his unmistakable lightning-bolt makeup, vivid red cape and theatrical costume. His gaze is directed outwards, towards the distant reaches of space. He carries the confidence and presence of a character who has become a cultural symbol in his own right.
The two figures are not shown in the process of becoming or leaving their identities. There is no costume being put on or taken off, no suggestion that one is more authentic than the other. Instead, creator and creation coexist as equals.
This is perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the painting. Over time, a persona can grow beyond the intentions of its creator. It acquires a life of its own through performance, imagery and the imagination of an audience. In Bowie's case, Ziggy Stardust became inseparable from the story of the artist who invented him. In Starman, their identities meet again, no longer divided by the stage or by the passage of time.
The Freedom to Become Someone Else
One of the things I find particularly fascinating about Bowie is his extraordinary freedom as an artist. Throughout his career, he moved between musical genres with remarkable ease, never allowing himself to be defined by a single style. From folk and glam rock to soul, electronic music, pop and jazz, he continually explored new musical territories. Even his voice seemed to transform along the way, changing its tone, texture and expression to become part of each new artistic direction.
I find this constant reinvention especially compelling. Bowie seemed to understand that creativity does not have to remain within established boundaries, and that an artist's identity need not be fixed. It can evolve, expand and take on different forms without losing its essential character.
Perhaps one of Bowie's most remarkable achievements was showing that an artist does not have to remain within a single identity to remain authentic. Each transformation opened another possibility, another way of expressing something that might otherwise have remained unexplored. In this sense, Ziggy Stardust was not simply a character Bowie created and eventually left behind. He became an enduring part of the artist's own identity, just as Bowie became inseparable from the mythology of Ziggy.
This idea resonates with something I have often struggled to explain about my own work. I have never felt entirely comfortable with the expectation that an artist should develop a single, immediately recognisable style and remain within it. While I understand the value of a consistent visual language, I also believe that the need to repeat familiar subjects and approaches can sometimes restrict the freedom to explore.
I want to be able to follow an idea wherever it takes me, whether that means changing subjects, experimenting with different techniques or moving into unfamiliar visual territory. This is one of the reasons I have organised my work into different series, each providing a space for a particular direction or set of ideas. Others, such as Libera, give me the freedom to experiment more openly, with different themes, techniques and approaches, including collage, without the need to arrive at a predetermined result.
In this respect, I find something very liberating in Bowie's example. He showed that artistic identity does not have to be confined to a single appearance, sound or language. Perhaps what holds an artist's work together is not always how it looks, but the curiosity, imagination and freedom that drive its creation.
The Baroque Spacecraft:
A Journey Beyond Time
Bowie and Ziggy are seated together on an elaborate spacecraft, floating above a landscape of distant planets and soft, celestial clouds. The vessel is one of the painting's central elements, not simply a means of travelling through space but an imagined setting that brings together different periods, styles and visual traditions.
Its design is deliberately ornate, with classical flourishes, sculptural details and intricate golden ornamentation. The spacecraft has something of the character of a baroque object, as though it belongs to another age, yet its futuristic form places it firmly within an imagined cosmic world.
I was interested in bringing these contrasting elements together. The elaborate decoration gives the vessel a sense of history, craftsmanship and theatricality, while its surroundings open onto the vastness of space. It feels both ancient and futuristic, familiar and impossible.
The contrast also reflects something of Bowie's own artistic universe. His work frequently moved between different eras, styles and identities, bringing together elements that might otherwise seem unrelated. Glam rock, science fiction, theatrical performance and visual experimentation became parts of a language that was entirely his own.
Here, the spacecraft becomes a floating sanctuary, a place suspended between the familiar and the unknown. It carries Bowie and Ziggy through a world that seems to exist beyond ordinary time, somewhere between memory, imagination and myth.
There is no sense of danger or urgency in the scene. The figures are not struggling to reach a destination. They simply share the journey, quietly present within the vastness surrounding them.
Colour, Atmosphere and Composition
The painting's colour palette brings together two contrasting worlds. The background is dominated by cool blues, turquoise tones and soft celestial clouds, creating an atmosphere of openness and tranquillity. Against this, the figures introduce warmer colours: the vivid red of Ziggy's cape and costume, the golden details of the spacecraft, and the natural warmth of the skin tones.
Ziggy's red costume is particularly important within the composition. It draws the eye towards him and gives the figure a strong visual presence, while Bowie's darker clothing creates a quieter counterpoint. Their different appearances reinforce their distinct identities without separating them from the shared scene.
The planets surrounding the spacecraft add depth and scale, but they are not intended to represent a scientifically recognisable solar system. They belong to an imagined cosmos, a setting where familiar references to space become part of a more personal visual mythology.
The large, pale celestial body behind the figures creates a sense of enclosure, almost like a luminous backdrop. At the same time, the surrounding blue atmosphere keeps the composition open, suggesting an endless space beyond the limits of the canvas.
I wanted the painting to hold a certain stillness. Despite its theatrical figures and elaborate spacecraft, the scene is not about action or spectacle. It is about presence, and about two identities sharing a moment in a world that exists outside ordinary reality.
The Beyond Triptych:
Three Worlds Beyond This One
Starman forms part of my Beyond triptych, together with Everland, featuring Michael Jackson, and Paisley Dawn, featuring Prince.
Although each painting stands as an independent work, the three belong to a shared narrative. Each imagines a different world around an artist whose creative identity has extended far beyond music and performance.
Everland places Michael Jackson in an imagined, eternal Neverland, reflecting on imagination and the creation of an ideal world. Starman brings together David Bowie and his alter ego Ziggy Stardust, exploring the relationship between the artist and the persona he creates, and the point at which one identity becomes inseparable from the other. Paisley Dawn turns towards the act of creation itself, imagining a world that unfolds through Prince's music and inner vision.
Together, the three paintings explore different dimensions of artistic existence: imagination, identity and creativity. They are not intended as conventional portraits of celebrated musicians, but as imagined spaces shaped by the cultural memory, mythology and creative presence of each artist.
There is also a particularly poignant connection between Bowie and Prince. Following Bowie's death in January 2016, Prince performed his song Heroes during a concert in Toronto on 25 March, just a few weeks before his own passing in April. His interpretation of the song, performed as part of a medley with his own Dolphin, now carries an added significance. Two extraordinary creative minds, each with a universe of their own, were connected not only through their influence on music but also through this brief musical tribute.
Everland is now in a private collection, while Starman and Paisley Dawn will be presented together for the first time at Art Athina 2026.
Beyond the Familiar
For me, Starman is ultimately about the possibility that an artistic creation can outgrow its original boundaries. A character, an image or an imagined world may begin as an extension of its creator, but over time it can acquire a presence of its own, continuing to exist in the memories and imaginations of others.
Bowie understood this perhaps better than most. He did not simply perform different identities. He created worlds that invited people to enter them, question themselves and imagine other ways of being.
In Starman, Bowie and Ziggy meet again beyond the stage, beyond the roles they once occupied and beyond the limits of ordinary time. They are no longer separated by the distinction between the real person and the fictional character. They simply belong together, travelling through a universe that their shared mythology has helped bring into existence.
Starman painting. Detail of Work in progress. Starman painting. Detail of Work in progress. Starman painting. Detail of Work in progress. Starman painting detail Starman painting. Detail of Ziggy Stardust Starman painting. Detail of David Bowie Starman painting detail Starman painting detail
Starman: Technical Details
Medium: Oil on cotton canvas
Size: 100 × 100 cm (39,4”x 39,4”)
Year: 2026
Series: Beyond
Price & Status: 8.500 € / Available for acquisition Inquire here and make it yours!
This painting is part of my Beyond series, which explores themes of mythology, cosmos, transformation, and the mysteries that exist just past the edge of what we can see.
Original works from the “Beyond” series are limited secure your opportunity to add this reinterpretation of myth to your collection.
🖼️ Limited Edition Prints Museum-quality giclée prints signed by me available here!
Comments