our hands hold so much—literally, metaphorically, symbolically. as a species, we sculpted our brains with our hands.

i first became obsessed with this when i read 'the part played by labour in the transition from ape to man' by friedrich engels. later archeological evidence confirms his thesis in that article: it was working with our hands that made our brains grow bigger and more complex, not the other way around (as the search for the 'missing link', an ape with a large brain, supposed). creating with our hands defined our species! when i say everyone is creative, this is my evidence. humanity is inherently creative because that's the reason we exist at all.

hands are also very expressive and intimate. even without proper sign language, we can communicate many messages using hand gestures. our fingertips are highly sensitive and lets us feel many things, not least each other, the warmth and texture of another human being. they also make our hands great precise tools for a plethora of tasks. we wash dishes and make sure they're clean. we gently rub the sleep gravel from our eyes in the morning. we hold pencils and paint brushes with such control that we can conjure a 3D effect on a 2D paper or canvas surface. isn't that so cool?!

i think all this is so wonderful and beautiful, of course i had to paint about it. that's how this series was born. if what i've said stirred similar feelings for you, i'd love for one of these pieces to find a loving home with you 💗

collecting this painting also gives you:

• a couple small surprise goodies (like stickers or small prints from my archive)
• a handmade membership card for the pixie collector club, including information about a few perks
• probably a few cat hairs despite my best efforts 😅 the fluffy studio assistant is eating allergen-reducing food, and tends not to bother allergic people in my experience. 
• it comes with hanging on the back (waxed string)

it will be packaged (very carefully) with reused materials because it's nonsensical to me to throw out the packaging materials i get, only to then go and buy new ones. waste not want not.

measurements: 30x21 cm

the canvas is 1.5 cm thick.

this one is slightly discounted because i used a lot of medium to thin the paint and acheive the dripping effect, which ended up staining the canvas a little, as you can see in the photos.