Enkidu

Enkidu, mixed media monotype print on vintage linen over panel, Brian Fisher




































“Dat ain't a mythic memory of pre-civilized humanity, dat's a song!”
Jimmy Durante sings Inkydo!

When Enkidu was a living myth, he and his best bro Gilgamesh were described and inscribed as cuneiform writing in clay.  Their story, The Epic of Gilgamesh, first written c. 2100 BCE recounts a king’s struggle with his fear of death, and his foolish quest for immortality.

Enkidu was created by the gods as match, equal, companion and (thank the gods) solution to the extreme passions Gilgamesh exhibited as ruler of the Sumerian city-state, Uruk.

Enkidu, a child of nature, roamed the plains of Mesopotamia (land between the rivers, modern Iraq).  His friends were beasts and he protected them by thwarting hunters and destroying their traps.  Gilgamesh eventually sends a priestess of Innana (goddes of love, sexual desire, fertility, war and justice), to tame him, resulting in a prolonged sexual encounter. Enkidu’s loss of innocence is quite unique in early writing and describes a moving journey from "child of nature" to “civilized” being.

Above is my mixed media rust monoprint, Enkidu. He will be on display during the VIVA Holiday Art Studio Tour, the first two weekends in December 1-2 & 8-9, Saturday & Sunday.  Maps available at Vashon Island businesses and online at VIVArtists.

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