Beach party at Wakona’s Island.
Oil on canvas, 99 H x 99 W cm / 39 H x 39 W in.
Created by Ofir Hirsh, under the Wakona identity in 2011.
In my dream, I woke up on a remote tropical island, all by myself.
It was an amazing creation of God; Turquoise water, white sand beaches, and coconut trees all around.
I immersed myself in the harmonious nature, and surrendered myself to the sun, the ocean, and the silence.
However, after a while, I felt that something was missing. There were no women out there, actually no human beings at all, nor animals.
I never would have thought that I will miss so much the company of people. Eyes staring at me, and faces smiling at me. Society, culture, emotions, and most of all, love.
So I made up my mind, to surround myself with creatures and faces.
I drew faces on stones and trees, I gathered and arranged together driftwoods, rocks and other natural objects I found, to make them look like living creatures. I became an obsessed creator and turned the island into a crowded community of imaginary creatures.
I then started to hear their voices and had thorough conversations with some of them.
No, I didn’t go nuts. Actually, it was the opposite. The creatures and faces kept me sane and even criticized me when necessary, shared their perspective with me and kept me busy, however, they did not return my love.
One pink dawn, I heard out of nowhere a deep low voice slowly calling out the word:
“…W-A-K-O-N-A…” And again, after a few seconds : “WAKONA…” And then it stopped.
“What does it mean?” I asked myself.
I couldn’t find anywhere, not even inside my deep complicated memories, the meaning of that word. I thought it might be a new word for something that had never existed before, maybe a creature, maybe art, maybe a phenomenon which has no name yet.
When I woke up from that dream, equally inspired and curious, I understood that I would have to name myself WAKONA in order to find out, and so I did.
