Pictorial Journal #5: Longing

Oil on canvas, 60x75cm

2025

Context

This summer, my parents came to visit me and they offered to help wash my curtains. After washing, we realised we could not hang them back up, as I did not have a ladder tall enough to reach the ceiling. Thanks to this small mishap, I ended up spending more time sitting by the uncovered windows and discovered a beautiful view that somehow I had been overlooked. As I set there looking out, the angle, the scenic and the composition of the space suddenly reminded me of The Window by Pierre Bonnard (see figure 2). The quiet moment between the domestic and painterly made me aware of a psychology behind our tendency, which is to pointing out faults instead of admiring strengths. As we are living in a city with such high pressure, it has become a priviliage to admire beauty, therefore I am reflecting the beautiful sunset of my neighbourhood, to remind myself there are someting worth to admire.

The other day I photographed a picture of sunset from the same window. The beautiful violet tint between the clouds and the bright orange glow from the reflection of the sun ray reminded me of a watercolour paitning by Anslem Kiefer aller Tage Abend, aller Abende Tag (The Evening of all Days, the Day of all Evenings). This poetic title much like the view itself became a metaphor for memory and hope. therefore I projected the view onto my canvas, illuminating the beauty found in space.

I projected my cat sitting in front of the window admiring the view as a response to Georges Perec, "Cats inhabit houses much better than people do... they know how to find favourable corners" (Perec & Sturrock, 2011, p.24).

Reference:

Gogasian (2018) Anselm Kiefer: Transition from cool to warm, west 21st street, New York, May 5–September 1, 2017, Gagosian. Available at: https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2017/anselm-kiefer-transition-from-cool-to-warm/ (Accessed: 01 November 2025).

Perec, G. and Sturrock, J. (2011) Species of spaces and other pieces Georges Perec ; edited and translated by John Sturrock. Johanneshov: TPB.

Tate (2025) ‘the window’, Pierre Bonnard, 1925, Tate. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/bonnard-the-window-n04494 (Accessed: 01 November 2025).