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, thestory’s narrator begins by recounting a childhood drawing of a boa constrictor swallowingan elephant, which adults misinterpret as a hat. This misunderstanding becomes ametaphor for the loss of imagination and deeper insight in adulthood. Consumed bytrivial and practical concerns, the adults in the story illustrate the need to reclaimimagination, curiosity and wonder as essential to a meaningful life. The work invitesviewers to reconnect with the same themes of curiosity, imagination, and meaning oftenlost in adulthood. It encourages us to avoid becoming rigid or stagnant in our thinking asadults, to remain open-minded, and to continue learning and growing. It urges us to “seethe elephant in the boa constrictor.”