Free Restraint

“Free Restraint”: a girl floating in space. Sunglasses on, both hands gripping her own toes, visibly pleased with herself.

“Free Restraint”, 165 × 120 cm on canvas, mixed media.

A yellow rubber ring holds her up. An ordinary inflatable ring, in zero gravity.

The pose is a child's and completely relaxed. No adult sits like that. The back objects, and so does the thought of how it looks from outside.

She is not peering anxiously into the emptiness of the universe or looking there for answers. She has already made herself comfortable.

The ring went in yellow and dense, the one warm patch on the whole surface. The space around it is cold from edge to edge.

What is restraining this restraint? Nothing. The girl is playing nobody and reporting to nobody, and I know of no other kind.

Standing near it is funny and good at once. That is how a person behaves when nothing has to be explained to anyone any more.

It asks for a big wall: living room, nursery, hall.