Cypress in green

The Cypress series is in dialogue with Van Gogh's thoughts and reflections on the life of a painter and the essence of his work. The cypress was chosen as a visual messenger, and passages from Van Gogh's letters to his brother are layered between the painted layers. In this vertical painting, a dark blue-black cypress stands, filled with short, rounded brushstrokes that unfold on either side of a central axis, like a feather or a fern. Around it lies a deep olive-ochre field, which swirls into spirals in the upper part, echoing Van Gogh's skies, and breaks down into rows of rhythmic strokes in the lower part. On the left, beneath the layer of paint, white handwriting emerges: lines of words that are swallowed among the patches of color and can be read only in part. A burgundy frame opens and directs the gaze, like a doorway or a curtain, and the cypress stands within it like a figure stepping onto a stage. The writing is sunk into the paint rather than laid over it, so the words and the painting are not separate: thinking about the painting is part of the painting. The cypress, an image of the link between earth and sky, stands here between what was said and what was painted.