Saturday 20 January 2018

Hans de Wit / Henri Füseli



Henri Füseli
The Nightmare
1781
oil on canvas
102 × 127 cm
Detroit Institute of Arts



Animal development: Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis, the transformation of the larva into an adult, is a more or less complicated process depending on the degree of difference between the two forms. The transformation may be gradual, extend over a long period, and involve a number of intermediate stages; alternatively, the transformation may be achieved in one step. In the latter case, especially if the difference between the larva and adult is great, large parts of the body of the larva, including all the specifically larval organs, disintegrate.

source: Encyclopaedia Britannica


When I experienced Füseli’s painting 'The Nightmare' I asked myself how it should feel to sit on someone, very ‘peaceful’ like the Incubus figure and last but not least to look at the spectator in a shameless way.
When I visited the nocturnal animal stay at the Zoo, I searched for the little night-animals with their large dark eyes. At first I didn’t see one but suddenly I saw all the eyes staring at me. I felt ashamed immediately.
When I sat on the black NYMPH as the Incubus to experience the transformation, the first thing to do was to deny the spectator and go to sleep as a night animal. This was the only attitude to search for meaning.

Hans de Wit, September 2017




Hans de Wit (NL)
NYMPH
2017      
152 x 300 cm                                      
pastel, coal on Saunders & Waterford paper                                



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