The Tarsier

So cute and surreal at the same time! This little animal, no bigger than a hand, has always fascinated me! The first time I saw a photo of one, I wondered if it was a trick. So eventually, without giving it too much thought, I painted one. With one small difference: I exaggerated its eyes, which are already very large in real life. I went with huge, golden eyeballs. I had in mind a creature from a series of books, Stephen King’s *The Dark Tower*. It’s a bafoux-bafouilleux (I read the translation), a small animal that happens to be a cross between a dog and a raccoon with golden eyes. Not that a tarsier has anything to do with a bafoux-bafouilleux—the latter being, after all, fictional. But the surreal aspect is very much present in both animals. I really liked the idea of giving it a slightly magical quality—not just in its eyes, but also in its overall radiance. As if light were emanating from it.