Koen Kievits

‘I wonder’

Looking out from the rocky needle over a sea of fog, contemplating the sublimity of the vastness of our natural world or perhaps the future, ‘the wanderer’ in Kaspar David Friedrichs’ painting has always been the iconic example of our drive to experience wonder and to feel insignificant compared to the world around us.

What even is the sublime? It seems to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. And if there is anything, wouldn’t we find it in ourselves, as much as in the immensity of wildernesses, mountainous wastelands and places of solitude that so often seem to evoke it? For once, the figure on top of the rocks turns around and sees the viewer, for he is one too. We now come face to face with the figure that has always had his back turned to us. We are, so to say, placed inside the vista he is beholding. What would he see in us now? What do we see in him? This work is closely related to my previous works where I try to find ways to let the image emerge into the space.

Related: ‘Thoughts’