Not My Will (Epictetus Cycle), oil and charcoal on canvas, 130 x 100 cm, 2025, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Paris, New York
Do not wish that what happens, happens as you want it, but wish that it happens as it does, and your life will flow smoothly.
— Epictetus, Enchiridion 8
Some things are within our control, others are not (Epictetus – Cycle), charcoal and oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm, 2025, Berlin, Brittany, Darss
What is within our control is only how we ask for help, how we help others, and how we respond to help being given or withheld. What is not within our control is whether others actually act, and whether they are willing or able to help us. — Freely after Epictetus, Enchiridion 1
Things and the opinions about them are not the same (Epictetus – Cycle), charcoal and oil on canvas, 130 x 100 cm, 2025, Tuscany
The castle signifies the fixed judgment of the mind. Yet through forgiveness a gate reveals itself – one does not skirt the walls but passes through and in that passage the castle relinquishes its hold. As the Dalai Lama reminds us, forgiveness is not granted for the other, but as a release of one’s own heart from its burden. Epictetus, in turn, teaches that it is not things themselves but our judgments about them that bind us and that freedom lies in the conscious act of crossing through. Thus, the image becomes a meeting place of wisdom: where Stoic clarity encounters Buddhist compassion. — Freely after Epictetus, Enchiridion 5
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Equanimity comes at a price (Epictetus – Cycle), oil and charcoal on canvas, 100 x 130 cm, 2025, Bornholm
Is a little oil spilt? A little wine stolen? Say to yourself, ‘This is the price paid for equanimity, for tranquillity, and nothing is to be had for nothing.
— Epictetus, Enchiridion 12