Oil, acrylic, pencil and spray paint on wooden panel , 80x80cm. Contact us at info@louisemcnaught.com for purchase enquiries. 
Set against an electric neon field, the great white shark is suspended in a moment of raw power and vulnerability. Its open mouth—often read as threat—becomes something else here: a silent cry, a warning, a truth laid bare. The neon ground acts like a modern halo or alarm signal, referencing danger, urgency, and the artificial glow of human interference that now surrounds even the most ancient apex predators.
Long mythologised as a monster, the great white is re-cast in this work as a misunderstood guardian of balance—an essential keystone species now facing extinction at the hands of fear, myth, and exploitation. The stark contrast between the natural realism of the shark and the unnatural, almost radioactive background reflects this tension: wild instinct versus modern consequence, reverence versus eradication. This painting asks us to confront our projections—what we choose to fear, what we choose to destroy—and what it means when the ocean’s most powerful beings are no longer safe in their own realm.