Ashes of the Underworld

Ashes of the Underworld is a concept rendering inspired by The Penelopiad, existing in a liminal space between yesterday and tomorrow, life and death, Heaven and Hell. The image depicts Grecian ruins in perpetual decay—crumbling columns stand sentinel among lifeless trees, their skeletal branches reaching toward an uncertain sky. Fire burns eternal in braziers scattered throughout the desolate landscape, casting an otherworldly glow across the rubble-strewn ground.

Penelope sits in quiet contemplation, a solitary figure amid the wreckage of her world, reflecting on choices made and paths not taken. The architecture speaks of glory long past, while the construction materials scattered about suggest a world perpetually building and rebuilding itself, never quite whole.

This rendering was created during the pandemic in Chicago, a time when artists found themselves in their own liminal space—suspended between the theatre that was and whatever might come next. The isolation of that period found its way into every shadow and every flame, transforming a classical myth into a meditation on artistic exile and the search for creative outlet when all stages had gone dark. Created using Vectorworks for modeling, Twinmotion for rendering, and Photoshop for final atmospheric touches.