Tryptichon (Horror Vacui), 2025, 3 digital prints, (3x) 127cm x 82cm

Tryptichon (Horror Vacui) by Severin Hallauer reflects on memory, identity, and the overwhelming confrontation with vastness. At its center is a black-and-white photograph of the artist (right) and his brother (left), framed by two landscapes: the red-tinted valley of their hometown and the deep blue ocean at night. Growing up in the Jura, where the horizon is blocked by the hilly landscape, the title Horror Vacui refers to the experience of being unsettled in the face of the sea. The ocean, with its brutal infinity, where water and sky collide, forces one to realize how small they are in the face of such immeasurability. The dualism reflected in the colors as well as the landscapes — also speaks to the diverging paths of the two brothers. The work captures the tension between the familiarity of the past and the vast, uncertain future, between rootedness and departure, between what is shared and what ultimately separates.