The Glass Globe, 2018. Digital painting in iPadPro and Apple Pencil with Procreate apps.

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Freedom in a cage; a concept.

The word of the day was 'shield' and again it did trigger me another deep thought about the word. The word as a verb in the Oxford Dictionary means;

Protect from a danger, risk, or unpleasant experience., Prevent from being seen, Enclose or screen (a piece of machinery) to protect the user or Prevent or reduce the escape of sound, light, or other radiation from (something).

Where a 'shield' functions as something that protects. But i wanted to challenge the common perception with another perspective.

Okay try to follow; a shield involves two party, say party A and party B as 'a prey and a predator' or 'an attacker and a defender'. The one is shielded by the other, party B is protected by party A. What if, we put another party, party C, the one who is protecting Party B. When party C puts party B in a shield, or in this case, in a cage, to protect party B from party A. Party B will be safe from party A, but party B is now caged and their freedom has been taken away from them.

My question in this situation is, will safety be a pleasure and desired by the one caged?

It is funny sometimes i find in certain situation, being 'cage' can also be a form of freedom. To be constrained means there is a chance to explore, it narrowing down the scope from 'the sky is the limit' towards focusing into a more structured direction. To be constrained also allowing us to be clear on what matters and what doesnt.

As for myself, one the thing i hate the most to do in this world is to make a choice. Its not that i am ungrateful of having the privilege to make a choice but i see it as a very big responsibilities. Oh well maybe im an overthinker, but everytime i need to decide on something, I will thoroughly look upon the possibility of its' growth in the future. Especially when given more than just a yes or no (where usually i'll never take a no for an answer); when you have an array of different options to choose from.

Usually for me, its not much about the fear of what challenges coming with the choice ive made. It is more of the regrets that i will face for not choosing the other options. I dont have much problems with 'the fear of unknown' where i am an explorer and love to dive deep into something i dont know, but the things more im afraid is the fear of not having the chance to explore the rest of options in the future.

If i could, i will say yes to all and left no options untaken, but of course life is short and its impossible to get everything we want in the world. The things to explore in this world is more than our lifetime. Theres so many things, yet so little time. Compromises still needs to be done, thus constraints and limitations helps me in this way.

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Heres the process timelapse of this drawing! :)

The idea of this 'shield' over our proud tallest twin towers in the world, the Petronas KLCC Twin Towers as a symbol of protection of our own pride; a protective feeling of keeping all our culture, heritage and identity from highly influenced by others. The act of protection here resonates with the discussion earlier where we will need to give and take, be ready to gain some and lose some as everything good comes with an opportunity cost.

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