In the late 1990s, Bill Hammond's work took on the stylistic fortitude for which it is most celebrated. Building on previous explorations of mythology, human interaction, cultural absurdity and ecology, the artist now sought to convey a visual language of dark imposition. This elegant study is characteristic of this period in his work, and in it we encounter the shadowy expression of the artist's defined otherworldliness.

In this work, Hammond navigates the immediacy of disconnection. Each elongated face appears as a masklike embodiment of alienation, frozen both in and through time; separate from the outline of the silhouetted bodies they inhabit. It offers a snapshot of the dizzying world of anthropomorphism and fragile ecology which the artist inhabited, and through which he articulated his enigmatic turmoil.

Paintings from this period in Hammond's work were often set against the backdrop of darkly layered, lush green caves and forest scapes. The understated palette and medium of this study presents us with the rawness of its absence, leaving the viewer confronted by the wanting exchange of mask-like faces which bleed down over, through and into each other.