Mussel

Pencil on Paper, 2026
57x77 centimeters / 22x30 inches
 
Every piece I create begins with either a question or a feeling. 
 
After finishing my previous collection, I spent nearly two weeks in a creative block, searching for an idea that felt worth bringing to life. Nothing seemed quite right.
 
Then, on a warm summer afternoon, I was sitting by the sea with a friend, a Negroni in hand, when the answer quietly arrived. Out of nowhere, the idea of drawing a mussel came to me. A giant one. Simple in subject, yet monumental in scale, a potential powerful statement piece.
 
For the next month, my life naturally revolved around the sea and the piece. Mornings were spent swimming before returning to my home studio to draw. In the afternoons I was either taking windsurfing lessons or go for a run near the sea. Day by day, this piece slowly came to life, and my days found a gentle rhythm. In many ways, the artwork became part of that summer just as much as the summer became part of the artwork.
 
Unlike my previous works, this piece doesn’t belong to a collection. It stands on its own, a statement piece inspired by a simple moment of clarity and the feeling of summer.