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Description
Fata Morgana, a linoleum relief print on Rives BFK Cream paper, was my first project in my Intro to Printmaking class. It's inpired by a sketch I created when I was bored in an Art History class. The inspiration behind this work can be viewed in my short essay I submitted along with the print:

Sailors have been facing constant danger in their lives. Most people would assume those dangers appeared in storms with colossal waves and powerful winds or even while facing pirates. Yet there is a danger which appears when the waters are calm and danger is least expected. The Fata Morgana effect occurs when different levels of cold and hot air distort the appearance of anything that appears on the horizon line. Therefore, islands, cliffs, icebergs and ports appear elongated and elevated as if they came from a fairy tale. According to the legends, King Arthur’s half-sister, the sorceress and enchantress Morgan le Fay, famous for being able to shift different forms, resides underwater and creates these illusions to lure the sailors into a false port or even death. Nikos Kavvadias, a Greek sailor and a poet wrote a plethora of poems about his travels. One of the poems included the mysterious Fata Morgana:

Θα μεταλάβω με νερό θαλασσινό
στάλα τη στάλα συναγμένο απ' το κορμί σου
σε τάσι αρχαίο, μπακιρένιο αλγερινό,
που κοινωνούσαν πειρατές πριν πολεμήσουν.

Πανί δερμάτινο, αλειμμένο με κερί,
οσμή από κέδρο, από λιβάνι, από βερνίκι,
όπως μυρίζει αμπάρι σε παλιό σκαρί
χτισμένο τότε στον Ευφράτη στη Φοινίκη.

Σκουριά πυρόχρωμη στις μίνες του Σινά.
Οι κάβες της Γερακινής και το Στρατόνι.
Το επίχρισμα. Η άγια σκουριά που μας γεννά,
Μας τρέφει, τρέφεται από μας, και μας σκοτώνει.

Πούθ' έρχεσαι; Απ' τη Βαβυλώνα.
Πού πας; Στο μάτι του κυκλώνα.
Ποιαν αγαπάς; Κάποια τσιγγάνα.
Πώς τη λένε; Φάτα Μοργκάνα

English Translation:

I will take communion with sea water
gathered from your body drop by drop
into an ancient cup of copper from Algiers
from which the pirates received the blessing before giving battle

A sail of leather, well-waxed,
the scent of cedar, incense, varnish
the way the hold smells in a old boat
built - in other times - on the Eufrates or in Phoenicia.

Rust, flame-colored, in the mines of Sinaï.
The wine-cellars of Gerakini and Stratoni
The coat. The holy rust we are born from
That feeds us, feeds on us, and kills us.

Where do you come from? From Babylon.
Where do go to? Into the eye of the storm.
Whom do you love? Some gypsy girl.
What do they call her? Fata Morgana.

Fata Morgan is a symbol of the illusion that someone has reached his destination and goal. After many travels and turmoil one gets tricked and might stray of his path and lose all his progress, success and his life. Fata Morgana deceives him for her amusement yet leading him to his doom. The sailor, away from the protection of his home and in the mercy of the open sea, has to remain strong and resist the mirage no matter how tempting it seems. Fata Morgana will not stop, she will always appear in his travels and he should always ignore her and not lose his way. This is the moral of the legend which reflects even modern times with so many people easily traveling around the world in search for different goals. Students, expatriates, immigrants and merchants all can be tempted and mislead by various Fata Morganas in their lives, maybe not in the form of a mirage in the sea, but in other creative and unexpected ways. After all reflecting on the legend, one can see that Morgan le Fay can be quite resourceful.

Description
Fata Morgana, a linoleum relief print on Rives BFK Cream paper, was my first project in my Intro to Printmaking class. It's inpired by a sketch I created when I was bored in an Art History class. The inspiration behind this work can be viewed in my short essay I submitted along with the print:

Sailors have been facing constant danger in their lives. Most people would assume those dangers appeared in storms with colossal waves and powerful winds or even while facing pirates. Yet there is a danger which appears when the waters are calm and danger is least expected. The Fata Morgana effect occurs when different levels of cold and hot air distort the appearance of anything that appears on the horizon line. Therefore, islands, cliffs, icebergs and ports appear elongated and elevated as if they came from a fairy tale. According to the legends, King Arthur’s half-sister, the sorceress and enchantress Morgan le Fay, famous for being able to shift different forms, resides underwater and creates these illusions to lure the sailors into a false port or even death. Nikos Kavvadias, a Greek sailor and a poet wrote a plethora of poems about his travels. One of the poems included the mysterious Fata Morgana:

Θα μεταλάβω με νερό θαλασσινό
στάλα τη στάλα συναγμένο απ' το κορμί σου
σε τάσι αρχαίο, μπακιρένιο αλγερινό,
που κοινωνούσαν πειρατές πριν πολεμήσουν.

Πανί δερμάτινο, αλειμμένο με κερί,
οσμή από κέδρο, από λιβάνι, από βερνίκι,
όπως μυρίζει αμπάρι σε παλιό σκαρί
χτισμένο τότε στον Ευφράτη στη Φοινίκη.

Σκουριά πυρόχρωμη στις μίνες του Σινά.
Οι κάβες της Γερακινής και το Στρατόνι.
Το επίχρισμα. Η άγια σκουριά που μας γεννά,
Μας τρέφει, τρέφεται από μας, και μας σκοτώνει.

Πούθ' έρχεσαι; Απ' τη Βαβυλώνα.
Πού πας; Στο μάτι του κυκλώνα.
Ποιαν αγαπάς; Κάποια τσιγγάνα.
Πώς τη λένε; Φάτα Μοργκάνα

English Translation:

I will take communion with sea water
gathered from your body drop by drop
into an ancient cup of copper from Algiers
from which the pirates received the blessing before giving battle

A sail of leather, well-waxed,
the scent of cedar, incense, varnish
the way the hold smells in a old boat
built - in other times - on the Eufrates or in Phoenicia.

Rust, flame-colored, in the mines of Sinaï.
The wine-cellars of Gerakini and Stratoni
The coat. The holy rust we are born from
That feeds us, feeds on us, and kills us.

Where do you come from? From Babylon.
Where do go to? Into the eye of the storm.
Whom do you love? Some gypsy girl.
What do they call her? Fata Morgana.

Fata Morgan is a symbol of the illusion that someone has reached his destination and goal. After many travels and turmoil one gets tricked and might stray of his path and lose all his progress, success and his life. Fata Morgana deceives him for her amusement yet leading him to his doom. The sailor, away from the protection of his home and in the mercy of the open sea, has to remain strong and resist the mirage no matter how tempting it seems. Fata Morgana will not stop, she will always appear in his travels and he should always ignore her and not lose his way. This is the moral of the legend which reflects even modern times with so many people easily traveling around the world in search for different goals. Students, expatriates, immigrants and merchants all can be tempted and mislead by various Fata Morganas in their lives, maybe not in the form of a mirage in the sea, but in other creative and unexpected ways. After all reflecting on the legend, one can see that Morgan le Fay can be quite resourceful.