Cinque Leoni

Five lions that crossed my path in the past. In each encounter, I am confronted with an aspect of myself. But only so if I am open. Whatever we perceive is our own reflection in the other person.

The Work Process

I do not make any sketches, but rather try to grasp an emotional image / pattern as clearly as possible: where appropriate in texts that serve me as memento or help me focus. I then give form to this emotional image.
More details in "About my Artistic Work Process"

Leone Nr. 1_Flight of the Dandelions

Keeping the distance out of fear of... closeness. A fear of closeness because one is afraid of drowning, of being devoured. So much fear of closeness, that the longing for closeness vanishes away.

A solitary flight.
A good person. But: one who is drifting. One who is driven by fear. One who is not really fully: in charge.

Löwenzahnflug
Flight of the Dandelions

Actually one of my preferred flowers. Good for the liver.
Maybe one day: fertile grounds

Leone Nr. 2_The Red Lotus

Tantra. Sexuality as a means to reach higher levels of consciousness. An ordinary person ("the root in the mud") reaches great clarity ("the Lotus").

The lotus means: I am leaving. I leaving this field of consciousness behind and ascend to a different plane, with different concerns. Tantra means unconditional acceptance. On the photo B. resembles a space(wo)man.

What is signified by "reaching a higher level of consciousness"? In any case it means: to leave behind the old level of consciousness.

Leone Nr. 3_In the Rose Garden

Two people are sitting in a rose garden, holding each other's hands. They do not actually "do" anything , i.e. there is no wild encounter, nothing loud, screaming or so. The mood is very, very calm, light and at the same time: intensive. Mental communication, inaudible, invisible, concentrated.

An very deep mental communication that makes everything start to glow from within: the colors become brighter, the roses smell more intensely, it is like being in the eye of a whirlwind: an almost unearthly quietness. And the storm's eye glides over the world.

It is about: intensive communication on a higher, invisible level.

A liberation. I am sitting in my rose garden. Holding hands. Paradise. Back united with all.

The one that that was my enemy now is friend.

Leone Nr. 4_Margaritas

Margaritas, Margaritas, y más Margaritas.

Clandestine Margaritas. Subliminally a constant bad consciousness. Happiness, but also the feeling of tasting a forbidden fruit. The firm knowledge, that the last step never will be taken. A stolen hour. Happiness. Margaritas... and tipsiness.

Biased. Caught within a system. Will one destroy the system? Would one want that the other destroys the system and becomes free?

No. Basically both of them want it just the way it is. Both caught in a system, in a latent, permanent unhappiness. To destroy the system would mean: abysmal falling.

Margaritas. A flirt with all possibilities, and at the same time the firm knowledge that they will all remain unused
Las Margaritas. Margaritas, with leaves, that one can count to make a decision which then to follow - conceal - flee.

Margaritas, Margaritas, y más Margaritas. More and more Margaritas. Again and again new decisions.

And yet: all remains the same.

Leone Nr. 5_In the Dark Fields

I painted this image without much thinking. I hardly know that person. The colors are reversed, like a negative image of something. I am looking into a perfectly unknown country. I gaze at it with curiosity, with marvel and fascination. If the door opened for me, I would enter. But it is never opened. I remain outside, and this may be quite good.

In the Dark Fields is about a life, that goes towards its end. I am young, mine just started.

We perceive each other from a distance.

Complementary Links

About my Artistic Work Process (2005)
When I paint I often proceed just like an actor who prepares for his part: based on my own experiences I create a specific mood, the paintings evolve in a process that is based on short texts (instead of sketches), a kind of emotional reminder.