Romero's Natura Morta with Pingo y Calavera combines a memento mori painting style and a still life (memento mori is Latin for ‘remember you must die). A basic memento mori painting would be a portrait with a skull, but other commonly found symbols are hourglasses or clocks, extinguished candles, fruit, and flowers. Romero has substituted those traditional objects with his collectible objects like textiles and ceramic pieces, affectionately called Pingos, and a nopal sculpture, all objects close to the artist's iconography. The prominent, colorful textile on the table plays a role in lighting the subject. It is a reminder to enjoy life while alive.

Through an exploration of still life, Frank Romero constructs an artistic path in constant evolution and refinement; the still life series has been part of his oeuvre since the 1980s. Following the academic values of a visual culture built on books and the art of ancient masters, the Mexican American artist makes the pictorial gesture a tool for studying and manipulating matter, with which he seeks to establish an exponentially deeper relationship over time. His Natura Morta series is a psychologically rich reservoir where folklore and mythology mingle for a restless pursuit of pure painting.