“The swamp is a secretive and sometimes monstrous place. It’s a treasury of things long hidden and forgotten – and the keys to unlock them are found within, if you dare to step a foot into the misty grounds.“
This artwork found its origin during a convention I attended in summer. What started as a doodle of a random creature took a clear direction very soon. Raigardo, the hydra, introduced itself and wanted to take shape on the paper and I found myself soon in a blissful flow of drawing with my beloved ballpoint pens on a big format again. However, Raigardo – a rather serious and marked being – needed a curious little fella (a crocodile-dragon hybrid, Okan) to pay him a visit in his foggy swamp, where he is on the hunt for the flying keys, sometimes competing with the restless little snakes.
Something that became very clear to me soon during my PhD studies in the field of plant metabolomics research is: What we know about nature is quite astonishing – why things work the way they do and how. And this knowledge that we have yet again raises questions about further details which we want to investigate for an even better understanding. These questions (in this case: as a result of scientific curiosity) drive us, we chase their answers, only to find out that these answers we sought lead to many more questions and show us how little we actually know (and understand) about the world around us. It is – and always will be – quite humbling and yet so incredibly fascinating. And I guess this concept applies to many things in life, and yet, (in my opinion) we should never stop to strive for answers.
Here are some detail views:
Ah yeah questions everywhere ! And answer are often far to fetch. Some time ago I was sitting an isolated mountain, figuring out people were living here 3600 years ago. And they made pots. Sound like a detail isn’t it ? But there isn’t water nor clay on this mountain, and for the clay they had to fetch it very far, yet for décades they have chosen this very unsuitable place to make pots. And I want – no I NEED – to know why, but the answer is flying away like those keys. And that’s frustrating sometime, I’m like “why, why, WHYYYY” XD I feel I’ve reached the curiosity level where not getting answers is painful x)
The way Raigardo looks at Orkan make me think he might be that kind of companion you feel are a bit anoying sometimes, but you’re overall glad he’s here because he gives you the ideas (not Always deliberatly) and discussing problems with someone often makes you progress faster than rumbling alone on them. I Wonder though why the snakes are chasing the keys…another questions to solve 😀
Haha, yeah, I understand.
Well, maybe they just enjoyed having a nice view while making their precious pots? x) Or this mountain had a special, spiritual/religious meaning to them.
Indeed, Okan can be kinda annoying sometimes. He is a curious fella, who enjoys talking and asking questions and does not understand at all that for other this can be overwhelming at times. Still, Raigardo is gald he is not alone on his quest for answers, but has an ally.
The snakes in this case here are other influences which can be neutral or negative – Raigardo is not the only one searching for answers and sometimes it is a race against time to be the first to get to a key.
This is also an aspect of (academic) research I’ve encountered. There might be other groups out there researching the same idea – some might want to be your allies and share ideas, with some you simply co-exist, while others might see you as competition or threat and treat you accordingly.