Thirteen Swans (Folk tale)
Kossuth Kiadó
2015
The simultaneous representation of internal and external space together with the shadows of the windows on the ground create the basis of the external space.
Using three colours, I made the picture contrasty and sign-like.
The homogenous colour of the background made the double pages even. The sense of a perspective distance was achieved by the increasing size of the birds and the river.
Dreams of women lying in their beds.
Red wine is spilt on the picture from the broken barrels.
Double pages of two open books
Thirteen Swans – A Folk Tale (From the Collection of Elek Benedek)
Kossuth Kiadó
2015
Thirteen Swans is one of the favourite tales from my childhood. I have imagined Tündér Ilona (one of the protagonists) in my own self. Firstly, she appears as a swan and pops up through her own head to become a woman. The direct link between birds and women brings us back to pre-Christian times in symbolic terms: to an era when people and animals had a more direct and intimate relationship with each other. “What is going to vanish from the Earth when fairies fall into eternal sleep?” – ask Ildikó Boldizsár, co-author of the book. With the tale of Thirteen swans she answered her own question. Adults also need tales in order to have dialogues with Life, collect experiences and learn how to relate to and rely on one another. It is up to us how we deal with these experiences and preserve the joy of the journey and discovery in our memories. Inspired, designed and illustrated by Zsuzsanna Paál, it is a book for adults based on the folk tale “Thirteen Swans”.