A Buddhist saying: “We each have spikes, coming out of us and going outwards. Some people have very long spikes – you cannot get close to them because they get irritated very quickly. Most people only have medium spikes. You can get close, but not very. Only a few people are so peaceful, so at ease, that they have NO spikes at all.” How long are your spikes? How easy going do you find yourself to be? Did you ask the people around you if they think the same? Do you find yourself alone sometimes, wondering if there’s something wrong with you? Did you DO something or SAY something that upset other people? Are you easily upset? All these poignant questions were at the heart of the internal discourse that the artist decided to elaborate upon by working on this splendid canvas. Front and center of this piece is a bush with spikey leaves, the plants that one can usually find on empty beaches in wildlife reserves.
