The dog, the rabbit and the hoop all feature in the painting, and take the place of the orrery.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
In the fairy tale the painting represents the here and now. The book is actually divided into five sections, through which the key character, the muse, leads us.
The rabbit is significant in that the handle on the original South Pointing Chariot was carved in the form of a rabbit. Because the handle extended out front it meant that wherever the rabbit went the chariot had to follow.
If you look closely you can see that they are all interconnected, symbolic of a never-ending circle in which it is simply impossible for the dog to catch the rabbit.
Painting is the passage from the chaos of the emotions to the order of the possible.
I had rather see the portrait of a dog that I know, than all the allegorical paintings they can show me in the world.
The painting is not on a surface, but on a plane which is imagined. It moves in a mind. It is not there physically at all. It is an illusion, a piece of magic, so that what you see is not what you see.
In the end, the gesture of painting becomes almost meditative, like a ritual.
Painting is sometimes like those recipes where you do all manner of elaborate things to a duck, and then end up putting it on one side and only using the skin.
I've had encounters with animals that have been really mystical. I've always been really into animals. But the way they appear in the paintings, they come from my mind's eye more than: 'I'm gonna draw a dog now.' It isn't thought out: 'Now I'm gonna draw a bird.' They just appear.
Remember that a painting - before it is a battle horse, a nude model, or some anecdote - is essentially a flat surface covered with colours assembled in a certain order.