about missed opportunities

VON VERSÄUMTEN GELEGENHEITEN
(about missed opportunities)

“Von versäumten Gelegenheiten”  is the sixth painting of the series "Leugnung" (denial), a private body of work that addresses the human dilemma of having to hide emotions, desires, fears and urges in order to comply with societal norms.
“Von versäumten Gelegenheiten”  in particular speaks about all the opportunities we dismiss because we are either too afraid to seize them ourselves or someone else is hindering us from taking them. There are so many little chances that present themselves to us in the course of our life, opportunities that we would benefit from in one or the other way but that we just don’t think to be able to pull through. Most of these opportunities present themselves to us just once in our lifetime, which makes it so much the worse when we realize that they have passed.
When I was in my late teens I had the opportunity to become a shibari-rigger for a nightclub in Berlin, but my then-girlfriend didn’t think it appropriate due to our relationship. It’s a missed opportunity I still lament today like some other small ones throughout my life.

Oil on Panel, 2021
76 x 61 x 2.5 cm
(30 x 24 x 1 inch)