Tunnel

"Tunnel" 40 x 40 cm acrylic on canvas, © Olivier Hijmans 2016

Not something I particularly remember, but I was told that 'tunnel' was the first word I uttered as a child. A very unlikely first word to come from a toddler, but perhaps it was because at that time my parents took us kids on an adventurous trip along the coastline of Norway, crossing through countless tunnels, carved out of countless mountains, revealing new landscapes on every exit. That must have made an impact.

Passing through a tunnel... the speed, the sound, the descent, ascent, the sudden fading and reappearing of light... is a very unique sensation when you think about it. It's like being pulled into a corridor away from an old reality into a new one, no way back, not knowing what is at the other side and then being thrust into that new World, once again out in the 'open', which, interestingly, was my own son's first word.

My son looked at this painting and I asked him what he saw. He replied without hesitation: "a tunnel'.
I agree. To me, it depicts the exciting moment when you're about to exit a long tunnel, the anticipation of seeing the first glimpses of light coming in from a new realm, a new life... winking at the cycle of birth and death.