This icon portrait of a hermit is a glimpse of the inner hermit, says the painter Ann Lang. The hermit and seeker is within the psyche of each of us. The portrait invites reflection on what that inner hermit in all of us really is. Does the hermit represent or symbolize something other than that primordial search for solitude? Is it childhood reverie free of immediate (but not ultimate) authority (a la Freud)? Does it invite us to acknowledge the growth of self that can still be attained regardless of age or vicissitude (a la Jung)? Perhaps it reflects the perennial sense of freedom and harmony that all hermits seek: a little austere like the tarot hermit, not so self-consciously deferential as the institutional monk. He is diverted or distracted from his path by our interruption, our questioning presence. His glance waits for our question, or waits for our reply, or wonders why we speak (or don’t speak) at all. But having run into him, we now know he is lurking in this edifice, and we wonder when he will manifest himself again.
— Image sent to Hermitary by the artist.