Transitions
Upon reading Pygmalion’s myth from Ovid's Metamorphoses I was drawn to the transformation of Galatea, a female statue which turned from cold ivory to warm wax. My intention was to paint the changing phase between an inanimate object to a lifelike form. I combined the vintage portrait of the English actress Lily Elsie with the silhouette of a mountain, a flock of birds and a sphere as a source of life giving energy feeding the metamorphosis. The black fir trees in the foreground are a recurring element in my works as they fascinate me with their conical structure, resin's fragrance and endurance. This is the first time where I used the subtractive technique on plywood by pulling the warm wax with silicone spatulas, leaving vibrating marks behind. During the production, my workflow was synchronised to the ethereal and meditative music of Ludovico Einaudi.