The Epic of Gilgamesh
“My friend whom I loved is turned into clay. Enkidu, my friend whom I loved, is turned into clay!”
-Tablet X
it’s not foul to love another
man the snake in this urn waiting for you
to turn around the flood
of mortality ghosting your skin my body
has always been an animal
i am hungry the steppes turning cold
& lonely
since we ignited into equals
licking the same pyre
& i am the gods’ curse for your divinity
the blood is too heavy
the Bull of Heaven is also just an animal
i’ll swallow everything so you could
be a hero etched onto the great walls of Uruk
a legacy with me washed
between like a shell
turn around now
the sand stained under your feet
is real the waves are coming
Utnapishtim warned you about the darkness
so morph yourself into a vessel
beating into a human the end is not an ugly
thing if you accept it
see our palms clasped perfectly
together the cedar
trunks decapitated by lightning near the light
as we cross the threshold
towards a gentle
beginning.
1921 Fires in Mogao Grottos
Medium: Watercolor, Canvas
Size: 27.6in x 39.4in x 0.8in
On a school trip to Dunhuang in 2023, we visited the Buddhist Mogao Grottos. The guide told us how Russian soldiers, fleeing the Bolsheviks in 1921, sheltered in the grottos and even cooked over open fires, which charred the ceiling murals. I found it ironic that current visitors are not even permitted to take photographs inside.
This painting compares the different ways humans interact with God—through reverence, disregard, and destruction. What if God's power actually comes from human worship and symbolism? The case of the Russian soldiers shows how something considered 'holy' can be destroyed so easily.
I referenced many existing photographs of the grottos and used thin layers of watercolor to achieve a washed-out effect, similar to the wall texture I observed in Dunhuang.
I am still trying to acquire mineral paints to add more detail and accuracy to my piece (since the historical murals and statues were preserved because they were created with mineral paints).