A Lipizzaner stands at the far end of a historic riding hall in Vienna, half screened by a wooden partition. The arena itself never enters the picture. What gives away the performance beyond it is a small white horse reflected in the Lipizzaner’s eye.

The horse doing the watching holds still while the reflected horse moves. That partition marks the distance between waiting and walking out into the arena, between going unseen and hearing applause.

This is the quiet moment before the horse takes part. As he watches, the distant performance starts to look like a future he could have, and the reflected figure may be a different horse, or the self he pictures stepping into the light. PVA tempera and acrylic on canvas, 39.4 × 31.5 in, dated 2026.