Cantons finds that there are a number of motifs that she always returns to when beginning a new piece. For Cantons, themes such as memory, identity, and life, death, love, war, and faith can be essential building blocks in the creation of exciting and complex stories. In Untitled (X’s and Fullstops), 2023 Cantons demonstrates that, above all, an exploration of the relationship with oneself and others, between her works and with art history is the central core of her work.

Cantons believes that art has the power to radically alter one’s experience of a relationship. She finds that art can have the effect of sending its viewer back into memory or forward into the future. In Untitled (X’s and Fullstops), 2023 Cantons meshes present and ancient history as she situates a nude –recognisably herself– in conversation with a second figure, ancient war helmets and an intersecting red line that she states is a depiction of a sumo wrestling ring. The painting can be seen as direct comment on Untitled (An anatomy of the space between), displayed nearby, and the show title, the figures, and the curving, intersecting red line are a rumination on conflict and intimacy and the need for space.