Fate is a torrent.
It pushes toward the unknown.
Fate does not always do justice.
It often leaves only an ordeal to endure.
Sometimes a slight shift of fate is enough
for a life to lose its place.
I paint the tiger,
not for its strength.
I paint it because it belonged to the mountain
and today it finds itself fallen onto the plain.
When a being is displaced far from what it was,
it eventually recognizes the cruelty of the world.
It will see temptation, bites, and jealousy.
It will also see indifference, cunning, and hypocrisy.
I paint it because these lives,
these situations,
touch me, again and again.
What I want to preserve,
is the truth of suffering
and that inner strength
which refuses to yield.
* Inspired by the Chinese proverb “虎落平阳被犬欺” (The tiger falling to the plains is bullied by dogs), the work deliberately transforms 平阳 (plains/lowlands) into 平原 (the plain), allowing the original narrative to open up toward a deeper reflection on what a being discovers when fate pushes it out of its rightful place.
