ИCKPA ISKRA: Behind the stories-the inspiration of my works

Behind the stories-the inspiration of my works

"For sure most of us are not really destined to become writers, but only through inspirations and ideas made us get into that." These are the words I often think of in creating such stories and even writeups that pop-"uped" (sorry for making "up" in a past tense) in my mind, and somehow it involves how every written work, or a living person became a basis, an inspiration in a work I have really made for all of my life.

But then,
Despite all of the works I have made, not all, whether it is a writeup, a tale, or a drawing are based much on the persons I met or the books I have read. And although they gave influence in every work, it does not mean that I copied from them. "Iskender E Rizza", "The Harmonium Player", "When Lizette met Paul Quillrose" are mainly inspired much minimally from books, and mostly from the barren mindset desperately yearning for writing. Same as "A Total Sacrifice", "The Revenge of Manyatsoe", and "Partisan Katleah", where inspired from historical events and reinforced my realistic concepts of a conditioned mind before being written.

And as I continue doing so, of writing works, it all mirrors anything coming from both book and from the mindset. "Iskender E Rizza" somehow was somewhat inspired from the legends in the Balkans like Shqiperia (Albania) while "When Lizette met Paul Quillrose" also inspired from the Slavic myths, that I even like off to read most of the time. Same as my poetry (here are the examples):

Well...
As the strange beauty of the fallen red rose blooms
The love given through hate will being glory and destiny
For your Hate is love-and my war is peace!
-From "The fallen rose"

Someday your victim may rise up
Rise up to gain revenge
Out of darkness, out of slumber
Making tyranny out of your presence!
-From "The voice of revenge"

I've been dreaming of you when I see you in red
Then my eyes turned red till it bled
As if I've seen a rose covered in blood
Heiliges quillrose now found!
-From "Charmel"

Like these excerpts from my poems, it shows the anger, love, melancholy, of a yearning for liberty, of fire, iron, gunpowder, roses and perhaps even women and men joining side by side. For sure some may ought to call me "weird" or "crazy" out of these things, that in fact-showing a sense of apathy and even misunderstanding in some works, passages, or figures I have made.

How about my artworks?
It also mirrors the idea that seemed to be different. I may have drawn realistic ones, of factory chimneys, of working people, anything based on everyday life; but for quite some time I also tend to draw some nostalgia-of 19th century lifestyles that also mirrors my love of anything past.

All of them are also inspired by people, like the last drawing (of a female knight), it is based much of my schoolmate-she's boyish despite his feminine appearance, and thus I made a sketch of her as a warrior-complete with an armor; and somehow it also shows how women tend to be strong and trying much to join alongside men, to be "half of men" in carrying the "half of the world."

I also tried making music, however I confessed that I am not a good musician-but being a music aficcionado influenced me, and listening to good music becomes a good basis for works-especially some of my poetry and drawings being made. Metal perhaps is one of the examples as well as punk rock and classical. And the proof lies in the drawings featuring women in armor, carrying a gun, battlefields, etc. And the poetry with messages full of melancholy, defiance, revenge,and liberation. The German song "Dem Morgenrot Entgagen" inspired me to create the poetry "To Ayala we're marching" and I even borrowed the melody to make it more compatible to it. The songs sung by Marko Perkovic of Thompson also inspired me to create some poems and even the story "Partisan Katleah" and "Katleah of Veid: Crusader of Ostgard".

However,
As you see these kind of works, whether it is written or drawn, it does not mean that I turned myself over to the past ideas that seemed unsuitable for this modern day era, while at the same time doing it for a sake-that may lead me to demise same as other people who blindly joined through-just like the drawings that may also show defiance to a "decadent" culture. Those inclinations shows how rotten the idea in the realm of literature and art is, since it shows what objective is art is-if it is for man or for profit, of using imagination to image the reality or just to make a bastardization of the human image. Grimm even ought to create tales not just for the sake of speaking it to children, he made it for it mirrors the idea of people, the folk-despite having its stories, like "Hansel and Gretel" more into children.

And despite having these kinds of works as more of "past related" it does not mean to say that I am doing a "backyard renaissance" like literature or drawing, but rather I am doing my best in making such works radical and at the same time classical-of utilizing the "Past-like" works, of nostalgic-like realism, and even "Imagination" into a contributing factor in mirroring realism and of the supposed idea of man as a creator of art and not as a victim of wholesale artistry.

Like Jiang Qing, of Aleksandr Bogdanov, of Bertolt Brecht, Gliere, Eisenstein end even the Brothers Grimm and of the composer Wagner, somehow they tried much in putting "fire" and "ice" into their works, that may inculcate man's intention to break off the shackles of eternal tyranny like the film "Oktobr" (which is based from the book "Ten Days That Shook The World") and of "The Red detachment of women." These may also came from the past, and yet they give lessons for the present and of the future, of giving inspirations for the struggle, and so are my works-and despite its fictitious lore, it tries its best to connect with reality.

And if people continues to attack anything within my works, of thinking it as if more of a crazed work or a work out of nothing, of calling it a trying hard artist, sorry to say, my alter ego carries the past while my body belongs to the present-and he, representing my ideas, and imbued with the reason of giving it "to the people" through creativity, helped me in this kind of work I am doing-therefore in these I communicate with my muse, and my muse communicates with the rest whom being served wholeheartedly.

For writeups and sites related to this, here:

KATLEAH: Drawings of Punk Rock, Metal and Revolution

KATLEAH: A good inspiration for (Art) work

On Folklorealism (Or rather on trying to infuse folklore with realism)

Why not a "National-Democratic" Black Metal?

On the radicalization of music

Being a Ska, Punk and Oi lover (for now)