Forest
2018
Scared of light
Forest is made with plants, tusks, and feathers.
The surrounding faces are portraits of Paalu smeared in ultraviolet face-paint.
Forest was made the year 2018 in Stevensville, Michigan where he stayed at his former host family before going to Chicago to begin his marketing studies.
The blooming flower in ‘Forest’ is an abstraction of a particular fear Paalu had when he moved to Chicago.
He feared he would have to quit his studies earlier than anticipated.
His expensive studies were a financial burden, and he was not fond of debt.
Paying with his hard earned fishing money made him bitter, since his studies were far from challenging, giving him more free time than he needed.
His journey to Chicago was not a case of money well spent.
Assignments were made without looking in the assigned books, yet he still managed to ace grades.
The extra time was spent reading Benjamin Franklin’s biography & Ray Dalio’s ‘Principles’, working out, and producing a great amount of art.
He aimed to have at least 10 productive hours each day.
He couldn’t just lay back & chill, then pay money for it.
Some sense had to be made in a bad situation.
He didn’t like his major and he could not afford it.
But it was difficult to tell his family, because they expected him to go to school instead of fishing.
Paalu had a few panic attacks at the end of his stay in Chicago.
He traced his bouts of hysteria back to the looming fear felt prior to beginning his studies.
He knew he was paying for something he did not really want.
He really wanted to pursue his artistic endeavors, instead of going to an arts college to study marketing…
He once had marketing courses in Copenhagen and was quite good at it.
But marketing was far from his core passion.
In retrospect, Forest was a work of therapy.
His fear was illustrated by using irresistible vibrance to beautify the fearsome creature in the forest.
He could only find courage to lay eye on this creature, if a glance was rewarded with luminous and welcoming colors.
After his panic attacks, he quit his marketing studies and came to terms with his true desires.
He admitted to family and friends that he was unable to pay for his studies, but also promising himself to pursue his visions, instead of falling prey to his fear.
Yet by taking a close look at his fear made him realize what he truly wanted —
Making his fear a guiding light in a forest.
‘Forest’ is made with plants, tusks, and feathers.
The surrounding faces are portraits of Paalu smeared in ultraviolet face-paint.
Forest was made the year 2018 in Stevensville, Michigan where he stayed at his former host family before going to Chicago to begin his marketing studies.
The blooming flower in ‘Forest’ is an abstraction of a particular fear Paalu had when he moved to Chicago.
He feared he would have to quit his studies earlier than anticipated.
His expensive studies were a financial burden, and he was not fond of debt.
Paying with his hard earned fishing money made him bitter, since his studies were far from challenging, giving him more free time than he needed.
His journey to Chicago was not a case of money well spent.
Assignments were made without looking in the assigned books, yet he still managed to ace grades.
The extra time was spent reading Benjamin Franklin’s biography & Ray Dalio’s ‘Principles’, working out, and producing a great amount of art.
He aimed to have at least 10 productive hours each day.
He couldn’t just lay back & chill, then pay money for it.
Some sense had to be made in a bad situation.
He didn’t like his major and he could not afford it.
But it was difficult to tell his family, because they expected him to go to school instead of fishing.
Paalu had a few panic attacks at the end of his stay in Chicago.
He traced his bouts of hysteria back to the looming fear felt prior to beginning his studies.
He knew he was paying for something he did not really want.
He really wanted to pursue his artistic endeavors, instead of going to an arts college to study marketing…
He once had marketing courses in Copenhagen and was quite good at it.
But marketing was far from his core passion.
In retrospect, Forest was a work of therapy.
His fear was illustrated by using irresistible vibrance to beautify the fearsome creature in the forest.
He could only find courage to lay eye on this creature, if a glance was rewarded with luminous and welcoming colors.
After his panic attacks, he quit his marketing studies and came to terms with his true desires.
He admitted to family and friends that he was unable to pay for his studies, but also promising himself to pursue his visions, instead of falling prey to his fear.
Yet by taking a close look at his fear made him realize what he truly wanted —
Making his fear a guiding light in a forest.