When the Forest Breathes in the Ocean: Why I Glued Real Lichen to My Manatee Painting
In my latest work, I dive deep – taking a piece of our native forest with me into the depths.
At first glance, it seems like a fascinating contradiction: A family of manatees glides majestically and with primal trust through a gentle, sun-drenched blue. It's no coincidence that the dugong is the centerpiece of my logo – for me, it embodies the ultimate ambassador of deceleration. These gentle giants of the coastal seas show us how healing it is to simply let ourselves drift at our own pace. In our often-too-fast world, this deep regeneration is a central theme of Traditional European Medicine (TEM) to bring our nervous system back into balance and shed "hot" stress.
But those who look closely will discover a three-dimensional, living secret on the canvas. The corals lining the seabed are, in reality, real lichens that I collected during my excursions through the forests. I found them simply beautiful and fitting for the underwater landscape. To make them absolutely durable and prevent their delicate structure from breaking, I glued them with strong gloss gel on the underside and securely sealed them from above.
As a TEM expert, lichens have long fascinated me due to their enormous healing power. Biologically speaking, they are not individual plants but a perfect symbiosis of fungus and algae. They show us how harmonious coexistence and absolute adaptation work, as they survive even the harshest living conditions. In the European healing tradition, we have valued lichens – such as beard lichen or Icelandic moss – for centuries for their valuable lichen acids. They have strong antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects and act like a protective balm on our mucous membranes. They are nature's powerful intestinal and lung herbs, the pure filters of our forest, giving us free breathing and strengthening our immune system.
In my painting, these healers of the forest become protective corals. What provides protection, defense, and free breathing in the forest combines here with the element of water. A work of art that merges two worlds – and brings you the message to breathe deeply, protect yourself, and fully come into your power.
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