Inside The Panther

White chalk, acrylic pen, and watercolour pencil on black paper, 135 g

This work marks the beginning of a small series that reverses my artist’s book series, which is created on white, dotted paper. As always, everything begins with a single line that wanders aimlessly through space. Whatever emerges from it tells a still-undeciphered story and, in retrospect, leads me to many places.

One of these places is Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem “The Panther – In the Jardin des Plantes, Paris.” Rilke died 100 years ago this December. His panther describes the torment of caged instincts and the dreadful endlessness of a beating heart that finds itself already in the death of all senses.

My panther is in the very moment of liberation. It begins to move, connected with Nature in female form, fertile and fearless as she unfolds here.

At the same time, I think of Assata Olugbala Shakur, an activist of the Black Panther Party, who died in exile in Cuba in September 2025 at the age of 78. I do not know whether she experienced her life in Cuba as a cage. Yet it must have been agonizing to be a free spirit and a fighter, unable to go wherever one wishes to go. For me, she embodies both panthers: free and captive.

Where will my drawing lead you? That is what I would like to know.

To avoid misunderstandings when purchasing: The shipping prices listed here are fictitious.

The price listed here refers, on this occasion, to the small original artwork.

It may also be possible to offer the work as a high-quality fine-art print in larger formats.

Please contact me before making a purchase so that we can discuss the print size, type of production, and also for the original: packaging, shipping, insurance, and any applicable taxes, depending on the destination and your preferences.