Artist and filmmaker Ronan Day-Lewis, son of actor Daniel Day-Lewis and filmmaker Rebecca Miller, is currently showcasing his unique vision in both the art and film worlds. His solo exhibition, "Anemoia," featuring ethereal landscapes and figures, is on view at Megan Mulrooney in Los Angeles until November 1. Concurrently, his debut film, Anemone, starring his father, premiered at the New York Film Festival on September 28. Both projects delve into themes of memory and the passage of time.
Key Takeaways
- Ronan Day-Lewis has a solo art exhibition, "Anemoia," in Los Angeles.
- His debut film, Anemone, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, recently premiered.
- Both his painting and film work explore the concept of memory.
- Day-Lewis draws inspiration from early digital photographs and childhood experiences.
- He has a second solo exhibition scheduled for next year in Brussels.
Early Artistic Development and Family Background
Ronan Day-Lewis began his artistic journey at a young age. At two years old, he repeatedly drew motorcycles on an Etch A Sketch, inspired by his father's motorcycle. This early fascination evolved over time into the distinctive landscape paintings he creates today. The artist describes his creative process as a way of "cycling through obsession." He has consistently pursued art, stating that painting was never a question for him.
Despite his parents' fame—his father, Daniel Day-Lewis, is an Oscar-winning actor, and his mother, Rebecca Miller, is a filmmaker—Ronan spent many years shielded from public attention. From ages seven to thirteen, he lived in rural Ireland. He later moved to New York for high school and attended the Yale School of Art. Film, however, remained a significant influence.
Background on Ronan Day-Lewis
Ronan Day-Lewis, 27, is establishing himself in both the visual arts and filmmaking. His upbringing included periods in rural Ireland and New York, followed by formal art training at the Yale School of Art. His work often reflects on personal and collective memory, a theme that connects his diverse projects.
The Concept of "Anemoia" in Art
The title of Day-Lewis's Los Angeles exhibition, "Anemoia," refers to a specific type of nostalgia. The term means "nostalgia for a time you didn’t experience." Day-Lewis discovered this concept while viewing Instagram Reels, particularly a "nostalgia edit" video. This video featured archival footage of 2000s-era classrooms and other scenes that felt familiar yet were not part of his direct experience.
"It's hard to remember when I realized that painting was something I wanted to pursue seriously, because there was never a question for me," Day-Lewis told Muzdro at Kellogg’s Diner in Williamsburg.
This idea of borrowed intimacy resonated with his painting practice. He often uses Flickr images from the early 2000s as inspiration for his figures and landscapes. He describes these photographs as "mysterious snapshots of people’s lives that were mundane but also had this loaded narrative potential." The aesthetic of early digital flash photography, which tends to "hyper-flatten" images, also reminds him of his own childhood photos.
Artistic Inspiration
- Early Digital Photos: Day-Lewis uses Flickr images from the early 2000s, noting their "hyper-flattened" look.
- Childhood Experiences: Time spent in Marfa, Texas, and Prince Edward Island influenced his landscape focus.
- Film References: He cites movie posters, like Ang Lee's Hulk (2003), for color and mood.
Dreamlike Landscapes and Color Palettes
Many of Day-Lewis's paintings feature lustrous, dreamlike landscapes. For example, three works titled What we did and where we did it (The Big Gloom) (2025) show spectral figures in violet light. These figures hold glowing bulbs, while a central panel depicts a clouded sky over anonymous rooftops. The pieces evoke a sense of drifting between dream and memory, creating a borrowed nostalgia. His use of vibrant, yet sometimes washed-out, colors makes the scenes appear temporary or decaying, allowing viewers to interpret their meaning.
His interest in evocative landscapes stems from his childhood. He recalls months spent in Marfa, Texas, while his father filmed There Will Be Blood (2007). The desert landscape there "embedded itself" in his consciousness. Similarly, his time on Prince Edward Island, where his parents filmed The Ballad of Rose and Jack (2005), also left a strong impression. These experiences cultivated his "interest in landscape as an emotive force," where places carry both "melancholy" and the "sublime." He seeks this quality in various sources, including the metallic green and stormy sky of Ang Lee’s Hulk (2003) poster.
Connecting Painting and Filmmaking
Day-Lewis applies similar emotional and visual techniques across his artistic mediums. In his painting That Was Then and This Is Now (Death, the Maiden) (2025), he envisioned "a teenager with a gun staring down a storm in the desert." Unable to find a precise source image, he discovered a 1990s album cover featuring a girl with a gun that captured the desired feeling. He then combined this image with a desert landscape to create his final composition. The result is a haunting portrait set against a foreboding, hazy environment. This technique, where the environment conveys the figures' emotions, is also central to his film.
The film Anemone (2025) originated from Day-Lewis's desire to write about brothers, being one of three himself. The project developed after conversations with his father, Daniel Day-Lewis, who had also been considering a similar idea after announcing his retirement from acting in 2017. In 2020, father and son began collaborating. They developed a story about a man living in self-imposed exile whose estranged brother, played by English actor Sean Bean, arrives after a 20-year separation.
"There was this intuitive rhythm [my father and I] fell into where we had sort of a shorthand," Ronan Day-Lewis noted about their collaboration.
Visual Storytelling in Anemone
Initially, Ronan and Daniel Day-Lewis conceived Anemone as a largely silent film. In this vision, the landscapes would carry much of the emotional weight, mirroring Ronan’s approach to painting. The film uses images of distant, violent storms and lingering aerial views of a lush, bustling forest to fill the gaps between dialogue. This cinematic style draws directly from Ronan’s painting background.
He explained that "being inside the film took certain elements that were already in my work as a painter—like the narrative leanings and the more cinematic aspects of it—and pulled them naturally more to the forefront." This synergy between his two practices is evident in specific visual motifs. For example, a dead fish carcass seen drifting in water in his painting Wisdom (2025), currently at Megan Mulrooney, reappears in one of Anemone’s final scenes.
Collaboration on Anemone
- Initial Idea: Ronan wanted to write about brothers.
- Father's Involvement: Daniel Day-Lewis had a similar concept after his 2017 retirement.
- Development: They began working together in 2020.
- Plot: A man in exile is visited by his estranged brother after two decades.
- Visual Style: Designed as a largely silent film, with landscapes conveying emotion.
Future Prospects and Enduring Themes
Ronan Day-Lewis's career is gaining momentum. Following his current exhibition in Los Angeles and the premiere of Anemone, he has already secured another solo exhibition for next year at Nino Mier in Brussels. This indicates a strong trajectory for his work in both visual art and filmmaking.
Across all his creative endeavors, Day-Lewis consistently explores the theme of memory. Whether through paintings derived from borrowed snapshots or a film that delves into the darker aspects of the psyche, his work poses a fundamental question. As Day-Lewis summarizes, his art depicts "the way the present is constantly being metabolized into the past." This focus on how experiences transform and linger resonates deeply in his diverse and expanding body of work.