Description
This collage was inspired by the novella The Little Prince, written and illustrated by the French author and pilot, Antoine de Saint-Exupery. It is a philosophical fable about what truly matters in life, hidden beneath the simple guise as a kid’s story–about a little boy (the prince) who travels the universe gaining knowledge. The book’s most famous line “what is essential is invisible to the eye” taught by the fox, means that material wealth, statistics, and physical appearances do not hold real value–and grownups cannot be trusted. True meaning–like love, friendship and grief–is felt with the heart. The fox then explains that taming someone means creating ties: “you are responsible for your rose” and that “love requires time, patience, care and emotional investment”. The story urges readers to look past surface-level logic and keep the wonder and curiosity of a child.
I made the prince into a yellow penguin known as hoiho in Maori, a rare color mutation in a massive colony of King penguins that reside in the South Atlantic near Antarctica and are normally black and white. Just as the Little Prince was unique, these golden headed-penguins are not a whole species but one-of-a-kind individuals. Here, the Little Prince (the yellow penguin in an orange satin cape) is travelling in an old wooden boat to reunite with his love, the white rose (who was so demanding for water and care the prince had left his planet) with crystal-like asteroids hurtling past and a menacing Maori mask representing the fear and danger involved in the trip through space where he gains understanding. This work and the story are all about encouraging imagination at any age.
