Francesco Polazzi (XX) - Il sè e l’ego

Francesco Polazzi — who studied philosophy in Bologna and fine arts in Birmingham, merging pop, street art and postmodern abstraction into a unique pictorial language — would probably have conceived an image like this as a powerful metaphor for the inner journey.
In this oil on canvas, the owl, perched above a coiled snake, draws our gaze. The snake, depicted as the eternal serpent of cyclic transformation and the rhythm of life, coils beneath the owl in a spiral that suggests evolution, the dance of shadow and rebirth. The owl itself embodies wisdom, a delicate yet sovereign commander of the unfolding of life.
An energetic touch injects movement into stillness: vivid reds and deep greens writhe and intertwine like living energy, while touches of oil pastel confer a vibrant luminosity — a sign of movement even in rest. At times, the forms dissolve almost into abstraction; the lines become feathers, scales, motifs, rhythm. A dynamic ballet of painting and symbols.
Philosophically, the canvas stages a dialogue: the owl respects the serpent — just as the Self must recognize the primordial will of the ego — but it is now ready to guide with wisdom. It is a visual allegory: wisdom frames transformation, without suffocating it. The owl is free to travel into the shaded corners, not to dominate them, but to illuminate them.
Visually, the composition pulses between symbolic calm and dynamic rhythm — the serpent's loop always guides the gaze, while the owl's loop lifts it toward a brightness suggested by delicate golden halos. There is an intuitive balance: restraint and freedom, gravity and elevation, ego and Self.
In short, it is a painting where wisdom and love, lightness and understanding converge. The owl — a serene commander — transcends the viewer's gaze, inviting us into a transformative narrative: to become wise, loving and luminous, as we dance with our shadows in full consciousness.