Rob Douma

Douma is a Townsville-based artist who paints and sculpts dark and brooding surreal and stylised images. Douma is himself heavily tattooed, and skulls - synonymous with both tattoo culture and the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos - form an integral part of his visual language.

Often the focal point in his large, vibrantly coloured paintings, Douma has also taken to creating ornamental and functional skull replicas. The skull sculptures have been produced both with the intent of being art objects, and as candle holders, ash trays, and business card holders. The skulls are finely decorated with anchors, spider webs, crosses, floral designs, script, cherry blossoms and oriental designs, and other symbols in a manner which mimics the tattoo process.

Image: Rob Douma Society, Ink. [detail] 2015 Acrylic on cement skulls, 120 x 120 x 16 cm Courtesy of the Artist, Rob Douma

Photograph: Shane Fitzgerald