Salamander 1979

Kit Williams seems to have made this painting of an elderly man and sprightly woman riding a rocking horse in a dreamy collage of symbolic objects. It feels like a puzzle, almost like an allegory of life itself, where childhood fantasy meets adult reality. I love how he mixes the mundane with the magical, as if he's saying that everything is connected. The way the rocking horse leaps over the fire reminds me of the saying “out of the frying pan, into the fire”, but then again, that’s just my personal association. The way Williams layers the figures, creating a sense of movement and tension, makes me think about the constant negotiation between control and letting go. Maybe he was thinking about a particular journey he was on, or maybe he was just playing around with different ideas and images. This kind of openness, I think, is what makes the painting so engaging. It’s like he is inviting us to join him in his exploration.