Wire Tuazon’s paintings depict a manufactured reality with iconic scenes sourced from mass media, books and the internet. Like Sleeping with Pythons presents a human skull rendered from the side view. The momento mori, a symbolic reminder of mortality is painted delicately devoid of brush strokes in a subdued palette, which emulates the effect of a mass reproduced image. The hyperrealist anatomy of the skull is described carefully, suggesting the pits, ridges and arches. The skull silently enters into the shadows casted on the right, which creates depth and expressiveness. The image is labeled “Treason” in his trademark text, utilizing the Helvetica font. The playful juxtaposition of text and image compels the viewer to rethink clichés of the familiar and to reflect upon the search for meaning and empty significations behind the treachery of images. Wire Tuazon graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in painting at the University of Phillipines in 1999, and became a founding member of the art collective Surrounded by Water. He received the Thirteen Artists Award of the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2003, and was awarded a Residency Project Grant from the Japan Foundation Asia Center, Ashiya City Museum of Art and History in 2001. His recent solo exhibition titled Wire Tuazon: Performance Art vs Performance Art, was presented by Finale Art File in Art Stage Singapore (2015). He has participated in international group shows such as Under Construction, Tokyo City Opera House (2002) and Pain & Pleasure at 24 HR Art N.T , Darwin, Australia (2003).