Antonius Gerardus,

The idea for the creation of this triptych started off with a selection of ten arbitrary chosen elements which were going to be part of the scene. The different subjects existed out of a location, figures, materials and objects. A short description unfolded those elements and immediately opened up ideas for possible representations. This was just a starting point and a motive for creating compositional sketches, drawings and studies of textures and shapes. Dozens of drawings followed up and all the different elements started to develop into personalized characteristics. There were a lot of alterations during the process of creating this triptych. It existed out of a big reactional game of narrative and composition, explored on the large and small size borders of the paper.

In the middle panel there is a main character located, the man with the hat and cigar. On the table we see a tortuous branch that symbolizes the life of the figure. His right hand is located on the branch. It divides the future from the past and occupies the present. The figure has reached a moment of reviewing the past and peeks over his shoulder with its body facing the future. It is a crucial moment since his legs are already in movement to make a risky step into an abyss from which he does not know the deepness. By reviewing his past, he is deciding the depth of this abyss. In the time the figure finds himself, there is not yet a case of an optimistic vision of the future. But in its retrospective state, he is trying to find the right step to make.