The Atropa Belladonna Incident (The beholder's perception).
81 x 65 cm.
Oil on linen.
2010.
The beholder's perception:
All parts of the Atropa Belladonna plant, with the probable exception of the berry, are loaded with the very serious alkaloids atropine and scopalamine poisons.
In olden times, the juice was much employed by maidens to drop into their eyes, thus dilating them and making them strangely comely.
The plant is a mydriatic (pupil dilator). Dilated pupils normally is a sign of feeling aroused, which means that one is really into whatever is being gazed at. The maidens used the belladonna oil with the purpose of seeming more attracted to the men they were conversing. This would normally be noticed by his subconsciousness, charging him with a higher self-esteem and probable mutual attraction towards the woman.
Heavily use of this technique causes temporarily loss of eyesight or even blindness.
