MEIK SCHWALM.

What just flashed across your screen?

A dog? No.

A stick figure? No.

It was a deer.

And now, the deer parade begins

The Hunting Deer
The Hunted Deer
The Lone Deer
The Wallowing Deer
The Resting Deer
The story of the deer

The deer is no coincidence. It comes from Vedic astrology. Mriga Shirsha, the Deer’s Head, is one of the twenty-seven lunar mansions – the sign of the seeker who sets out in search of what is still missing.

Claude, an AI, drew it. I was quietly delighted to find someone who draws just as badly as I do. Scribbly, barely recognisable as a deer, charming in its own way – and somehow still carrying something deeply serious.

The collection

Each card is yours to download. Just click, print, and hang it up. Format: 13×18 cm.

jagender hirsch

What it longs for always lies somewhere ahead. It keeps chasing after it. The goal is always where it is not.

gejagter hirsch

The point lies behind it. It runs from fear, from what it cannot bear to face. It is not the goal that drives it, but the fear.

einsamer hirsch

The point lies outside itself, with another deer. It is among the herd, yet not where its point lies. There is closeness, yet something is still missing.

schlammender hirsch

No longer one point, but many, buried deep in the mud. Here, clear order begins to dissolve. This is the unprotected place where the unspoken waits.

ruhender hirsch

The point rests within it, beneath it, in its very centre. It no longer has to chase it or run from it. A presence that remains.