A scan of Ernesto’s skull, Edited on Photoshop to add the crown and jewellery. Ernesto’s work focuses on himself as the subject most of his works are X-rays of himself. This image is from Ernesto’s last series of artworks, His upcoming project sees Ernesto using cat scans of his organs to create 3d recreations of them. Ernesto’s next project will be the first 3d scans sold on Blockchain and if you own a 3d printer you will be able to print off Ernesto’s brain for yourself, provided you buy the artwork of course....

Since he was a child, Ernesto Romano (born in Italy), was always fascinated by the human anatomy and the botanical infrastructure of plants. His father who is a doctor peaked his interest and this has now factored into his artwork. He would later turn this childlike fascination into a search to understand the way people interact with the world and the idea of the spiritual within nature.

Having graduated as an architect, Romano began to work as an interior designer. This may have been what then influenced the way he interacted with the objects, colours and materials in his work. With this under his belt he started to create art in 2008 and has been doing so ever since. Ernesto’s work is an exploration of the human body. His visions relate to a dream like state of the unconscious. They are a reminder of the power of the human mind and a mysterious unveiling of the soul. By using technology to view translucent ghost like stills of familiar images, Romano creates a metamorphosis.

In one of his experimental prints he had superimposed the twenty-four hour cycle of a flower opening and closing over an MRI scan. This attempt to preserve ephemeral beauty is what makes Romano’s work so appealing. It is bold, and vibrant often using different materials such as Perspex and glitter or gold leaf. This combination of the skeleton glowing like neon lights and the application of an overlay of shimmering golden organs creates an ethereal appearance to the human body. By having an archaic bejewelled and physical shimmer combined with the translucent bioluminescence of the skeleton it creates a juxtaposing imagery. These contrasting images bring to mind the combining and conflicting elements, the battle between human growth and the evolution of technology and the human spirit as something allusive and beautiful.

The x-rays from his own body combined with the use of these materials are transformed into intimate self-portraits, which show the beautiful symbiosis between life and death. Romano’s goal is to embrace the transient nature of life. By depicting the soul as a plant or the organs as previous jewelled he reveals our human connection with nature and heaven.

The brain and the heart [these] two organs display how big we are and yet how small we are. – Ernesto Romano