Self

"A cosmos within myself"

I made this aquatint back in the summer of 2009 inspired by the ideas in Steppenwolf, by Herman Hesse and the haunting art of Odilon Redon (noirs).


The piece has many layers as I was exploring what Herman Hesse wrote about our chaotic essence: "The breast and the body are indeed one, but the souls that dwell in it are not two, nor five, but countless in number. Man is an onion made up of a hundred integuments, a texture made up of many threads". 

I wanted to represent that idea as Universes growing out of a cactus and expanding into the night.... 

As the self is about the past and the future as well I added the shoes walking forward but the head rooted on the ground to show were we come from. 

I haven't got the chance to do another aquatint but that technique, working with the metal and the uncertainty of the outcome felt quite good. 

Here, the visual poetry of Redon that inspired me...

How many constellations are you made of?

Thank you for reading!
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