"No Surrender"

"Do not give ground... hold fast... flee, then return, charge again... do not give ground!!"

This Cape buffalo is worn down, exhausted by the relentless attacks of the African wild dogs — these painted dogs that hunt in packs. It is certainly stronger than them, but encircled by the 'painted wolves', it will tire until it can no longer hold, until it can no longer fight. In the meantime, it must not give ground.

There is a paradox in this scene that I love: the African wild dog, the 'painted hunting dog', is one of the most endangered animals in Africa. Fewer than 3,000 individuals. Considered a nuisance, it is poisoned by farmers. A formidable predator on one hand, an endangered species on the other. Nature does not distribute roles simply.

I built this composition around tension and movement. The buffalo occupies the centre, a dark and massive presence, surrounded by wild dogs pulling from every direction. The main diagonal creates a sense of vortex, of pressure that leaves no escape. The dust, the light, the bodies off-balance — everything is designed so that the eye finds no rest, exactly as the buffalo finds no respite.

What interested me was to paint not the predator nor the prey, but the moment between the two — resistance. This buffalo may have no chance. But it charges. It comes back. It does not give ground. There is in that obstinacy something universal, that goes far beyond the animal world.