A restless Dream, second work: “The Way of the Sun”
(pencil and ballpoint pen drawing with gold leaf on 13 x 18cm, experimenting with shading gold)
“Never looking back,
the only way leads forwards.
We follow the way of the sun,
until the night catches up
and cloaks our existence in darkness.
We see stars drift by
and wait for a new morning
– eventually.”
ah, gold leaf is so fun to work with! And awesome to experiment (I’m currently trying to figure out how to shade it properly and integrate it into drawings)
This one is more difficult to interpret.
I suppose the frame is divided between day/summer at the top and night/winter at the bottom, flowers on the staff being morning/spring and making the transition between the two.
I see two way to opposite way to interpret the attitude of the character:
On one hand, as the sun is drawn in front of him, he seems to be following it, like the poem recommend him to do, but the night/winter part of the frame seems to be trying to stop this move forward by putting itself on the way of the character.
On the other hand, the character is facing left, and for us Westerners that’s a move backward, meaning he’s doing exactly what the poem tell him to not do, looking back at the past/night/winter.
I suppose the birds have a meaning but I can’t find it/
The drawing is simply about the cycle of life, which I also see in the seasons and the way of the sun.
The guy is following the sun from the rise, to the highest point, to the set and then the sun isn’t seen anymore (->death), but will eventually rise again (reincarnation).
That’s why summer is behind the elderly guy and why he faces winter (->death), as with every step we take, we move a little closer to it. That’s also why the guy wears a skull (memento mori). Still, his staff is blooming, as he knows of the potential/possibilities of his life and therefore smiles, even when facing/moving towards death. The birds represent free will here – even if our ‘goal/end’ is clearly defined (=death), there is no such thing as destiny, as we have a free will and can choose what we want to be/become and do with our lives.