Giovanni Forlino

I mainly create highly dramatized images of mystical creatures, captured in poses which reflect they are self-realized, caught in a moment of full strength, full self-expression. I also draw geometric mandalas, or closeups of human heads which are also dramatized. My interests in art history and anthropology have fueled a specific interest I have in symbolism (mostly animal symbolism) from Eastern and Western traditions. Lately I'm inspired by Mozart's operas, and also Buddhist sculpture. I just saw an Indian Buddhist sculpture which gave me a fresh perspective on my own work. It was a man, standing strongly on one foot, his entire body graceful and strong. At first glance, he appeared serious and the sculpture was dark. As I saw it from the point of view of that culture, rather than through the filter of my own, I saw that it was a celebration of the body; he was playing with the profoundness of life.