05/05/2026
“I Don’t Know How to Exist Without the Pressure” 100 x 100cm
“The painting depicts two female figures in a dark forest setting with a dominant, massive tree at the center of the composition. The tree, which recurs in various forms across three paintings in the series, again carries the symbolism of life and perseverance.
The front figure sits leaning against the trunk of the tree, her hair binding her — wrapped around her body, it acts as shackles. Hair here carries the symbolism of memory and the past; the figure bound by her own hair represents the inner pressure a person places upon themselves, particularly in the form of demands for performance and self-evaluation.
In the grass around the tree, a ring of mushrooms is visible — the so-called fairy ring, a folkloric motif associated with being compelled to dance and with a trap from which there is no escape. This motif connects the inner and outer dimensions of pressure. It is echoed by the second figure in the background, who dances with outstretched arms and her head tilted back — yet her movement is not an expression of freedom, but of involuntary submission to external expectations and social pressure.” — from my bachelor’s thesis
