Michael Byron's artistic concern lies with the symbol behind the real figure. A charming etching, the powdery aquatint gives the color areas a satiny sheen. The free and simple dark lines are marked by the brush structure. The play of line and surface is a soft ecstasy of planned coincidence and fixed form. Byron does not want to transport us to another or better world. He seeks a symbolic common denominator. It is precisely this which the present print subtly confirms. If you see this blossom, this 'Portrait of a Poppy Flower' (1992) blooming before you, you know that it may perhaps bloom only for a single day, yet you may suspect that, in its modernity, it could become a Tree of Life. And it will, without loosing any of its mystery. Byron depicts this essential figure as if it were the blossom of Art itself. But perhaps - and this but is very important with Byron - it is simply a flower in a pot on the veranda, with the light breaking through the railings chasing away the rain. The sun makes the red poppy glow. (ek)