Some pieces enter a collection because you love the artwork. Others become part of your story.
I bought this piece because of Maria.
For as long as I can remember, one of Maria's symbols has been the phoenix. She once told me why: for her, it represented where she had come from — the idea of rising from the ashes, rebuilding and emerging stronger from everything that had gone before.
So when we came across No Longer Fear The Darkness, the connection felt immediate.
The detail in the piece is quite simply superb. The gold leaf is extraordinary in person, changing with the light, while at its centre sits this beautiful yet powerful image of the phoenix emerging from the darkness.
And that's what I see when I look at it.
The darkness is still there. But it no longer has the power. The phoenix has risen above it.
There was something else that made this particular acquisition special. We bought the work directly from Magnus himself, and we have a photograph from that day of Maria standing alongside him.
That photograph has subsequently become part of the story of the artwork for me. It captures the moment when something that had represented part of Maria's story became something physical that we could take home and live with.
I didn't buy this simply because it was a Magnus Gjoen.
I bought it because when I looked at it, I saw Maria.
And that makes it one of the most personal pieces in the collection.
From The Allun Lewis Collection
Some pieces enter a collection because you love the artwork. Others become part of your story.
I bought this piece because of Maria.
For as long as I can remember, one of Maria's symbols has been the phoenix. She once told me why: for her, it represented where she had come from — the idea of rising from the ashes, rebuilding and emerging stronger from everything that had gone before.
So when we came across No Longer Fear The Darkness, the connection felt immediate.
The detail in the piece is quite simply superb. The gold leaf is extraordinary in person, changing with the light, while at its centre sits this beautiful yet powerful image of the phoenix emerging from the darkness.
And that's what I see when I look at it.
The darkness is still there. But it no longer has the power. The phoenix has risen above it.
There was something else that made this particular acquisition special. We bought the work directly from Magnus himself, and we have a photograph from that day of Maria standing alongside him.
That photograph has subsequently become part of the story of the artwork for me. It captures the moment when something that had represented part of Maria's story became something physical that we could take home and live with.
I didn't buy this simply because it was a Magnus Gjoen.
I bought it because when I looked at it, I saw Maria.
And that makes it one of the most personal pieces in the collection.
From The Allun Lewis Collection
