Lucid dreams

The series starts with a tapestry depicting Flora. It is a penetrating photo in which the essence of Flora is recorded. Her bright blue eyes and tamed red tresses jump out at you from the wall hanging. Her pale skin with freckles make her beautiful eyes stand out even more and her lips show an archaic smile. She has the classic beauty of the Venus of Botticelli. Flora’s eyes speak volumes. You see a teenager with a wise and piercing gaze. It is not a photograph but a tapestry woven with great care at the Textile Museum in Tilburg, where - in close collaboration between Peter Hellemons and the museum experts - a colour palette has been chosen that does even more justice to Flora’s piercing gaze. Because the work consists of fabric, the distance between Flora and the viewer is almost eliminated. Flora’s image has become tactile and touchable. Her open gaze and the corporeality of the work invite you to have a quiet conversation with her. But above all, this work is about how the father sees his daughter. He took the original photograph; she looks at her father. That gaze is primarily meant for him. She speaks to her father with those eyes, a look that he can read best. It is therefore at the same time a very intimate work and, particularly because of the open gaze, a classic and universal portrait.