Description

The Race Against Time (2026)

Original Fine Art Painting by Ashvin Harrison

Artwork Description:

The Race Against Time explores the way we can become trapped in the endless rhythm of life; running, working and chasing time without always questioning where we are going.

At the centre of the concept is a small wren running upon a wheel inside an antique gramophone. Like a hamster endlessly turning its wheel, the bird’s movement metaphorically powers the machine, playing the soundtrack of life while simultaneously racing against time. Above it, the record continues to turn and the clock face quietly points to 11:11, reinforcing the constant presence of time in the universe and its influence over the way we choose to live.

Yet there is an important contradiction hidden within the scene: the wren isn’t actually trapped. The gramophone cabinet is open on every side. There are no bars, no locked door and nothing physically preventing the bird from simply spreading its wings and leaving. Its cage exists only through its own perception. In this way, the artwork becomes a reflection on the routines, expectations and self-imposed limitations that can gradually shape our lives. We can become so accustomed to keeping the wheel turning that we forget to ask whether we still need to be running on it at all.

I created the artwork itself to mirror this idea visually. The gramophone, record, clock and wren are rendered with controlled detail in coconut charcoal, representing the structured and measurable world, the routines, objects and passing minutes we recognise. From the gramophone horn, however, that control suddenly disappears into an enormous eruption of colour. Hundreds of spontaneous splashes and lines expand beyond the machine, representing everything that cannot be contained by a clock: emotion, imagination, experience, music and the unpredictable possibilities of life. The contrast between these two worlds is central to my Motusrealism approach, where realism represents what we can physically see and abstraction expresses what we feel and experience beyond it.

The Race Against Time ultimately asks a deceptively simple question: are we truly trapped by the lives we have created, or have we simply forgotten that we still have the freedom to fly?

Details:

Title: The Race Against Time (2026)
Artist: Ashvin Harrison
Medium: Coconut charcoal powder, acrylic and oil paint on canvas
Size: 48 x 36 inches (122 x 91 cm)
Canvas: Museum-grade stretched canvas on 1.5 inch (4 cm) hardwood timber frame
Style: Motusrealism, contemporary realism, abstract expressionism, conceptual fine art
Finish: Archival protective coating
Authenticity: Signed on the front and accompanied by certificate of authenticity
Shipping: Professionally packaged and shipped worldwide with full insurance

Additional Artwork Information

Ashvin Harrison paints realistic artworks inspired by real life posing people and nature, photographs or imagination. Also, all artworks have a charcoal dust element to them. This painting, like most pieces, is a mixture of acrylics, acrylic medium thinners, acrylic medium flows and also mixing additives with charcoal dust paint. This completely new made up approach to create art is a large part of Ashvin’s fast growing popularity in the art world.

Please contact me if you would like to see more photos or also seek more information about this artwork. All artworks ship for free to any country and also location within. Insurance and import taxes paid for by Ashvin, making for stress free purchasing and arrival of your new painting.

If this artwork is not the one for you, please check out the Artworks in Stock Page. Contact Ashvin to discuss a custom commissioned artwork. Ashvin can also create on different size formats of rolled or ready to hang artworks. Also, Ashvin offers super sized rolled canvas artworks up to 265cm (104″).