Amanita Muscaria

A striking, memorable image: this is how I see the fly agaric. Countless texts and pictures are devoted to this beautiful mushroom, but its brightness and fairy-tale look are not its main trump cards. It changes a person, gives new qualities and gives courage. Our ancestors knew a great deal about it; Slavic and Scandinavian mythology in particular have much to say. I believe it deserves special attention, and that is why I painted it.

Its energy feels more masculine to me, yet I chose to show it as a beautiful girl. Her face is confused, her pupils of different sizes: this is how I convey the mushroom’s power over the body. The many white dots across the canvas are the spores it releases, a way of saying that its effect reaches not only the figure in the painting but the viewer too, wrapping them in its spell.