Jan Štulíř explores a wide range of topics relating to human existence, such as personal identity, social roles, and interpersonal relationships. His choice of subject matter is intuitive, always emerging from a strong emotion that leads to the creation of a more complex story, even though the story’s “ending” is never a part of the painting. This ambivalence then allows for multiple readings. Štulíř’s work seeks to enable self-reflection and sensitization; it encourages us stop and think. The painting as perceived the artist is a space without time or a clear historical anchor; it is a symbolic space. The figures in Štulíř’s paintings represent various social roles – a bride, a boxer, a clown, a priest, a soldier. The main actors in his paintings are people, though always surrounded by the landscape, which represents the ultimate authority.