Mixed media on panel
48" x 48"
Artist Statement:
This is Not a Hat pays tribute to the wonder of literature, drawing inspiration fromAntoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince). In The Little Prince, the story’s narrator begins by recounting a childhood drawing of a boa constrictor swallowing an elephant, which adults misinterpret as a hat. This misunderstanding becomes a metaphor for the loss of imagination and deeper insight in adulthood. Consumed by trivial and practical concerns, the adults in the story illustrate the need to reclaim imagination, curiosity and wonder as essential to a meaningful life. The work invites viewers to reconnect with the same themes of curiosity, imagination, and meaning often lost in adulthood. It encourages us to avoid becoming rigid or stagnant in our thinking as adults, to remain open-minded, and to continue learning and growing. It urges us to “see the elephant in the boa constrictor.”