Self Portrait in a Different Time and Place
oil on canvas board
59.4 x 84.1 cm / 23.4 x 33.1 in
umber, ocre, malachite, lapis lazuli, lead, verdigris, cinnabar, shungite, 23k gold, silver
To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.
~ Socrates
If you know the enemy and you know yourself, in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. If you know yourself but not the enemy, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If you know neither the enemy or yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
~ Sun Tzu
It’s Time to Make a Choice
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What is behind the doors?
Everything and nothing.
oil on canvas
91.3 x 61 cm / 35.9 x 24 in
In life, you will rely on your mind to develop knowledge and a good sense of logic to help you make the best decisions in both critical and trivial matters. The mind can be your friend or your foe.
And there is instinct: in life and death situations your instinct is all you have to rely on. Life is half luck and half choice. Good instinct will lead to good choices and good choices will bring opportunities.
The Border
oil on canvas board
40.4 x 30.3 cm / 15.9 x 11.9 in
Yes, stories, fables, moral examples, even if you have to bend the law a little, don’t you worry, it’s a bravery fearful people always appreciate in others, even me, but not because I’m fearful, I liked the way you saved the adulterous woman from death, and look, coming from my side, it means a lot I’m saying it, because this punishment I had put in the regulation I have given you, You are allowing your laws be twisted, bad sign, I’ll allow it when it’s useful, and I’ll desire it when it’s helpful
~ Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ
In work
Midnight Hour in the Garden of Good and Evil
oil on canvas board
68 x 81 cm / 26.8 x 31.9 in
The more I study, the thinner the line between good and evil becomes. It may change depending on the times. However, the situations are different and always predictable.
~ Kim Chunchu
Kinship
oil on canvas board
59.4 x 84.1 cm / 23.4 x 33.1 in
"Where are the men?" the little prince at last took up the conversation again. "It is a little lonely in the desert . . ."
"It is also lonely among men," the snake said.
The little prince gazed at him for a long time.
"You are a funny animal," he said at last. "You are no thicker than a finger . . ."
"But I am more powerful than the finger of a king," said the snake.
The little prince smiled.
"You are not very powerful. You haven't even any feet. You cannot even travel . . ."
"I can carry you farther than any ship could take you," said the snake.
He twined himself around the little prince's ankle, like a golden bracelet.
"Whomever I touch, I send back to the earth from whence he came," the snake spoke again. "But you are innocent and true, and you come from a star . . ."
The little prince made no reply.
"You move me to pity--you are so weak on this Earth made of granite," the snake said. "I can help you, some day, if you grow too homesick for your own planet. I can--"
"Oh! I understand you very well," said the little prince. "But why do you always speak in riddles?"
"I solve them all," said the snake.
And they were both silent.
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
The Dream
oil on canvas
60.7 x 50.4 cm / 23.9 x 19.9 in
If there’s no road to where I’m going, I shall build one.
If you want your army to travel 100 kilometers without becoming fatigued, travel unoccupied terrain.
~ Sun Tzu
In work
The Owls Are Not Always What They Seem
oil on canvas
There is great power in the irresistible force of love. Who said this?
No one, answered Jose Palacios.
Then I’ve said it, continued the general, but let’s say marshal Sucre said it.
~ Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The General in His Labyrinth
In work
The Garden of Paradise
watercolour
Childhood Friends
oil on canvas
