#denis forkas
Dream of the Twelfth Labour, 2017
Acrylics on paper, 20 x 20 cm
In my dream I am adolescent Heracles having a prophetic dream about the twelfth labour. In search for the putrid Avernus I travel far south. The further I go the thicker the fog gets but there’s no stench to guide me to the entrance – on the contrary, I’m treated to the most exotic flower fragrance. After a while I spot a source of light in the mist and it soon leads me to a lavender field with a decorated crystal coffer towering above it. Inside the coffer there’s an enormous shriveled corpse – its chest being consumed by smokeless fire in complete silence. I realize this is the entrance to Hades I’ve been after and rejoice. Without delay I shatter the coffer and immediately wake up into the darkness of hell – as a naked youth. I remember a woman laughing in front of me. The shock breaks the spell and I wake up again marveling about the idea of unleashing hell upon the world as the only means of entering it.
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“Your Cup is Full”. Study for a Minoan cylinder seal impression*, 2012/2017
Acrylics on prepaped paper, 13.7 x 18.5 cm
Last month I had a dream involving an old memory exercise – the blind study of an ancient Minoan cylinder seal impression painted back in 2012.
In my dream I return to the studio after a walk and realize I have a guest: someone is shuffling through drawings in complete darkness! I switch the light on and find myself standing in the middle of a subterranean place of worship. In front of me there’s a Persian girl examining my drawings scattered on the floor among oddly shaped (votive?) coins and gemstones. After a while she pulls this old sheet of studies, nods thoughtfully and cuts the seal impression out of it with scissors. She inspects the painting again before producing a qalam from the folds of her colourful hide and writing something just above the grotesque griffin figure. She then hands the sheet over to me with a lovely smile. To my surprise the tiny piece of paper weighs like an apple; the Farsi calligraphy reads “Your cup is full”. I reach out to touch the writing but my hand meets with an obstacle - there’s an invisible object sitting on the surface of the study!
Upon awakening I promptly pulled the sheet from the heap, cut out the impression, brought it as close to the dream version as I could and added the gilded calligraphy. Now haunted by the memory of the invisible object I can’t help touching the writing every now and then fully expecting the phantom barrier to block my finger.
*unavailable
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Dear friends,
The much requested prints shop is finally open at inprnt.com/gallery/forkas
I hope you will find the selection to your liking.
The shop will be updated on a regular basis. All prints are shipped from the US.
Love,
D.
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