In this piece Akolo uses different painterly effects to create an expressive image. He uses a simple colour palette, white, black, blue, red, with colour added in quick expressive brushstrokes and light sprays of paint, but layers the paint to create texture. There are areas of bold colour with paint, such as the central white area, and Akolo uses drops of paint liberally and thick short brush strokes to add definition to the figure. The skull of the hanging man stands out but the body blends in with the other areas of colour. In the right hand bottom corner there is another skull, barely distinguishable from the dark background. Akolo’s decision to not draw attention to the figure and skull but allow them to form another part of the painterly shapes elevates his formal skills and emphasises the ambiguity of the subject matter.