Toc Toc, can I get In? is an artwork that resonates with the complexity, a surreal portrait of a regal figure that challenges the boundaries between reality and imagination. At the centre of the composition stands a disquieting queen with a sinuous body and a metamorphic head, an explosion of symbols that intertwine in an ambiguous message of attraction and repulsion.
 
The queen’s head is a flower: a vibrant red daisy whose centre is dominated by a single eye. Sinuous antennae extend from her head like the tentacles of an elusive octopus, intertwining with spirals that seem to draw her into an endless vortex. Every movement suggests a struggle between control and dissolution, a tension between holding on and letting go. Her body, painted in vivid red, is elegant, with legs that transform into a single slender line that splits into two tiny feet, clad in precariously high-heeled shoes.
 
The queen wears an elaborate skirt resembling a crocheted masterpiece, a detail that speaks of tradition, femininity, and, at the same time, entrapment in a finely woven net. Her arms are delicate and asymmetrical: on the left, they end in a feminine profile, suggesting an echo of herself; on the right, they branch into an intricate scene of houses, a tree hosting an entire village, and tiny beings seem to dance around the mystery of her figure. The eye could represent a journey, control, or a portal to an inner world. Her visible spine is a thread that connects profiles of women lining her body, forming a procession of memories, fragmented identities, or whispered voices accompanying her movements.
 
The white ink emerges against the black background, emphasising an obsession with detail and the contrast between void and visual exuberance, while the red intensifies the drama and emotion. "Toc Toc, can I get In?" is an invocation that could be a plea for access to the external world or a call to the depths of the self.
 
 
TocToc, can I get in?|Mixed media Artwork | Limited & Open Editions
© Loredana Denicola