Max Xeno Karnig draws inspiration from historical Western European painting, specifically its fascination with a formalized vision of desire. He grapples with a gaze that holds the subject at an impossible, formally-suspended distance in the frame, utilizing compositional schemes and painting processes characteristic of idealized allegorical portraits by painters like Albrecht Dürer and Antonello da Messina. Karnig then replaces classical mythological and religious subjects with icons of Western cinema, having them occupy this hallowed space for projection, reflection, and mimicry. By softening features here, illuminating them there, and eschewing photo-realistic depiction, Karnig sublimates these cinematic icons in a metaphysical realm.