SCANITAS

SCANITAS is a body of 3D sculptural and 2D printed works that reinterprets the seventeenth-century vanitas still life through the errors of photogrammetry. Objects associated with vanitas imagery, including reflective, transparent, patterned or complex forms, are deliberately selected because they are difficult for 3D-scanning systems to understand. The resulting models buckle, stretch and fragment, exposing the gap between a physical object and its computational reconstruction.

Presented at Studio KIND., Barnstaple, from 1 February to 1 March 2025, the solo exhibition translated these failed scans into Pepakura paper sculptures, layered prints and collaged scan textures. The project connects the traditional vanitas themes of mortality, futility and transience to the fragility of contemporary image technologies, treating digital error as both material and subject. The exhibition was the third KARST x KIND collaboration linking artist-led organisations in Plymouth and North Devon.