Series: Pearls /
Human Emotions

What does it mean to be human?

Is this not the subject of all artistic research?

I wish to shed light upon the various sensitivities of the heart by exploring the pearl; creating value by capturing the unspeakable. A pearl is the living embodiment of perfection, a drop of light and a heavenly seed. It a reflection of momentum and the soul. A pearl is touchingly beautiful and inspires contemplation, like a human being. It is the only precious gem that has already been cut by nature. No two natural pearls in the world are identical, and not one natural pearl in the world is entirely flawless. Every pearl has a small flaw somewhere, even if they first appear to have the finest symmetry and luster. More than any other gemstone, pearls have special properties that can be compared to us humans. As with humans, their origins are purely organic. Their nature, like that of humans, is often contradictory: while pearls are hard, they are also delicate and ephemeral. Every natural pearl is unique, just like each person. At the same time, unlike other gems, pearls are not heavy, but instead unusually light.

Pearls are formed for below in the depths of the sea. At the bottom of the ocean, an oyster is invaded by a foreign body. It is said that these creatures feel great pain when such an irritant enters the shell. In response, to relieve the pain, the shellfish encases the foreign matter with its own tissue. As we know, this foreign body becomes a pearl, and one can interpret this reaction as meaning that pearls can remove emotional pain.

In my paintings, I try to give shape to human emotions through the figurative representation of different pearls in different movements, colors, and sizes. At first glance, these objects are necklaces, strings of pearls lying on various surfaces or floating in space. A juxtaposition of sensations is created from the rough surfaces and smooth nacre of the pearl. The background is not just a depiction of the painting underlay, but also a reflection of a certain mood that enters into dialogue with the pearls. The small formats are analogous to a hidden, initially slow field of vision that then reveals something special.

“Only a very small number of oysters produce, under natural conditions, a pearl at all. In turn, from these few pearls that are produced, only a handful have a desirable size, shape, or color, and only a small number of these are ever found by humans.”