The owl that wanted to be an ibis

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Ludovic Thiriez, The Owl That Wanted to Be an Ibis (2025)
Mixed media on canvas — 60 × 40 cm

With this work, Ludovic Thiriez presents an animal figure captured in mid-motion, poised on the threshold between recognition and metamorphosis. The owl, its wings fully spread, seems to burst forth from the pictorial surface, driven by an almost instinctive energy. Its gaze is direct and frontal, suspended in the precise instant when the animal takes flight.

The background, composed of broad luminous fields of yellow, ochre, and white, is crossed by traces, drips, and visible gestures that give the canvas a constant sense of vibration. These pictorial layers blur spatial reference points and create a tension between the bird’s body—firmly rooted in figuration—and a freer, almost abstract environment.

The title introduces a poetic shift between what is and what could be: between identity and the desire for transformation. Without ever illustrating the idea literally, the painting suggests a slide, a possible passage from one state to another.

An expressive work, "The Owl That Wanted to Be an Ibis" condenses Thiriez’s universe: a sensitive form of painting, narrative without being explanatory, in which the living becomes a vehicle for emotion and open-ended projection.

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