Quintessence (1126)

A burst of light erupts at the centre of this canvas, like a star being born. The cells open, unfurl, connecting in delicate filaments that evoke the veins of a wing or the branching of a living being. On the left, golden and green shades teem like fertile earth; on the right, deep reds surge forth like a flow of incandescent lava. Yet it is upwards that everything inclines: vibrant azure spreads in fluid sheets, imparting the sensation of a cosmic breath. The canvas breathes, pulses, as though it held the very heartbeat of the universe. One can no longer tell whether one is gazing upon a landscape, a stellar explosion, or a giant cell at the origin of all life. Perhaps there lies its power: it reminds us that every beginning is at once fragile and infinite.