In the series, Memento Vita, I revisited the tradition of still life through a contemporary lens. Still life hints at the connection between nature and man, displaying our command over materiality. Historically still life has also been an academic method of artistic training. Therefore for this work I have taken on a new process, painting both materially and digitally, establishing new skills by layering paint and pixels. Paintings begin digitally, then are printed on canvas to have additional layers detailed in oil paint. Some works are also iterated with artificial intelligence, and animated to become still lifes in motion. Objects depicted include traditional motifs of flora and fauna along with the result of our materialism; waste. There is less cloth and precious glass and more plastics and disposable items. Scenes overflow into an installation expressing not only the memento mori plea to ‘live now for you will die,’ but to act now or the ecosystem will too. A surreal possibility, an evolution of material offers hope, one that changes our perception of natural and unnatural. In a future world, these paradoxes dissipate, plastic grows and decays, while nature takes back some control.