My first inspiration was the Chinoiserie. I was attracted by decorative shapes floating in the shiny, black and empty space, hence the association:
the Phlegethon, the Acheron and the Styx.
The romantic sublime is characterised by Edmund Burke in terms of vastness, infinity, loneliness and – above all – darkness and obscurity. In nature, darkness, confusion and ambiguity exert stronger influence on the imagination, waking sublime passions, than the clear and unambiguous.
Furthermore, Louis Marin in one of his essays says that black is the theoretical limit of visibility, a non-colour and the absolute materialisation. There is nothing that could come closer to non-space than black, the fullness of maximum density. (...) The inner space of things is black.