Daria Gan

An abstract black and white drawing with intertwined, looping lines creating a complex pattern.

Brainstorm

1969
120 cm x 180 cm
Dry pastels on paper mounted on canvas

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Last Man on Mars

A surreal drawing of black, textured hands holding a small yellow-green seedling, with worm-like structures in the background and a partial view of the Earth at the bottom.
Drawing of a person's hands clasped behind their head, sitting with knees bent, against a blue background.
Abstract illustration of intertwined white and green worm-like creatures with a dark background featuring blue dots.
Abstract drawing of intertwined, textured 3D rectangular shapes with bold black lines and shading.
A sketch of two hands clasped together, drawn with crosshatching.
An artistic drawing of a group of dachshunds dressed in different colored coats, standing in a line and facing side, with elongated bodies and ears. The drawing has a sketch style with detailed line work and minimal color accents.
An ink drawing of several hanging pants with blue fabric strips on top, signed with the name 'Jan' and labeled with the date '7/28'.
A black and white ink drawing of a hand holding a head with a gavel, with the head having human features and a set of blue eyes, against a plain background, signed by the artist.
A drawing of a nude figure sitting with their legs crossed and their back to the viewer. The figure is depicted with pink shading and black ink lines, set against a dark background with scribbled shading at the top.
A drawing of intertwined hands, some making the 'OK' gesture, with alternating black and red coloring and shading, on a white background.
A drawing of a group of stylized human figures with green heads and bodies, depicted in various dynamic poses, with shading and outlines, arranged on a rectangular background.
Abstract drawing of intertwined hands and faces with exaggerated features using lines and shading with blue, purple, and pink colors.
Black and white sketch of intertwined hands, with some colored elements such as red nails and a blue base, set against a plain background.
A detailed pencil sketch of a cluttered artist's workspace, featuring a heap of intertwined, abstract, and distorted mannequin-like limbs and body parts on the left, with some yellow binding clips attached to a black surface. The background includes shading and hatching to create depth, with a signature and date in the bottom right corner.

I am lying with arms outstretched in one of the darkest corners of this deck. The boards are still warm here.
On the other side, a door opens, and two people come out. Both seem to be frail, quite old. Their hair in the moonlight is pure silver. The man lifts the woman`s face with both hands and kisses her cheeks. She takes a picture or two. Then they discover the stars and stand there, in the middle of the bridge, holding the railings. Silent and starstruck.

The ship sways slowly and silently somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The huge moon, orange, nearly red, hangs like a heavy belly in the sky. Swarms of flying fish, with their silvery wings, flip around and dive into the waves. They are playing with millions of stars.
Deck six in front of the ship is silent and dark. The men, above, in the captain’s bridge, must be able to see, what is in their way.

Starry Night

Big Brother

Abstract painting of three figures with large circular eyes, depicted in vibrant blue, green, and purple colors, with geometric backgrounds in orange, purple, and blue.
A painting of three blue fingers holding a red bar within a beige and black background.
A painting of two blue kneeling hands with handcuffs, in front of a window showing a colorful landscape with red, orange, yellow, and green hills.
Colorful illustration of multiple green and red rocket-like objects on a green ground under a large dark blue and gray sky.
A colorful abstract painting depicting a woman with her head covered sitting on a chair with a figure lying across her lap. The background includes dark green, blue, and purple hues, with the woman wearing a pink and purple garment and the seated figure in a light-colored dress. The scene is set indoors with dark purple floorboards.

How often men in civilian suits stopped me somewhere in the city and asked to see my citizen´s card. They usually looked into my shopping bag as well. Since my daughter was still small, I was allowed to have one and a half rations. Five hundred grams of carrots for me and two hundred and fifty grams a week for her. Three hundred grams and one hundred and fifty grams of bread a day. Two hundred and fifty grams of margarine a week for me and hundred grams for her.
Sometimes I had no carrots left. I gave them to the saleswoman who hid a pair of socks under the counter for my daughter. That´s what everybody did in our country.
Four green men stood at the gate. One of them took my ID, scribbled something on it and threw it in a large wooden box.  
I am to be in front of my house at five o’clock tomorrow morning. With my daughter and a small suitcase with the necessary things. 
It went so fast that I had no time to say anything. 
Something similar happened already once in my life. Then, twenty-six years ago, there were the black men. They also came at night.
At dusk, men were loaded on trucks first. Then women, old people and children. They were never seen again.

I did not get much sleep that night. The alarm clock rang, as always, at ten minutes to five. I got dressed, put my little daughter in the stroller and deposited her in the kindergarten round the corner. 
In our street, every two to three hundred meters, stood an armored car. The howitzers, raised high, were aimed at our homes. 
In front of the administration building there were many more of them. Heads of men in green uniforms protruded. Cigarettes hung from the corners of their mouths. They looked unwashed and tired. 
I stamped my card a few minutes before six and started my usual daily rounds. Men in protective suits and asbestos gloves poked into small tapholes of the blast furnaces. The molten iron and the slag had to be liberated and directed into enormous, insulated train carriages. I admired the men’s calm and skillful movements. I was supposed to write an article about them for our company´s weekly newspaper. 
Back in the office we were told that on leaving work, everybody´s identity will be checked by the green men. All documents must be ready. 

The Green Men

War with the Newts

Watercolor painting of a woman doing a handstand, signed by the artist 'Seaw'.
Abstract watercolor painting of four leaves in shades of teal and dark green on white background.
Abstract watercolor painting with green and teal brush strokes on paper.
An abstract watercolor painting of a black and green spiral on white paper.
Abstract watercolor painting in shades of green and black with fluid, organic shapes on white paper.
Abstract watercolor painting of overlapping green and blue shapes, resembling a snake coiled around a round shape, on white background.
Abstract watercolor painting of two dogs facing each other, with irregular dark teal and lighter turquoise colors.
Abstract watercolor painting of two figures, one female and one male, with fluid lines and green hues.

Who Will Come Will Come and Who Will Have to Go Will Go

Those who are to come will come. They are already close. 
In a hundred years, people will carry burdens on their shoulders again. 
Those who achieved more will ride high on their horses. 
We will be able to die earlier.
Plagues will overwhelm us. Thin us out. There will be more space everywhere. The air above our dwellings will be clearer and sweeter. People will stop measuring it.

Research will be banned; all will be blown up.
Devil´s work.
Museums and theaters are already piles of rubble on which scrub is now growing.
Music will be made at home. Songs will rise into the night.
One will be able to hear birdsong again and surrender to fate and death.
In God´s name. 

The Other Shores

A circular artwork featuring a red sphere in the center, surrounded by a ring of human hands in grayscale making various gestures.
A painting of two intertwined human-like figures, one blue and one red, with stylized limbs and muscular forms, separated by a dark gray vertical bar. The background features a mountainous landscape with a blue sky and white clouds.
A painting of multiple red human figures dancing or moving together under a blue moonlit night sky.
A monochrome abstract drawing featuring intertwined organic shapes and tubular forms, with some angular and geometric elements, in a dense composition.
Abstract artwork featuring red twisted shapes on the left and a large black circle on the right, with black and white sketchy lines and shading.
A red and black ink drawing of an abstract structure resembling a rectangular arch with two thick legs, set against a background of wavy lines.
Black and white triptych drawing of three people peering through a window, with expressive faces and knees visible, in a sketchy style.
A black and white abstract drawing featuring wavy, flowing lines and shapes, with some areas shaded darker for depth and contrast.
Abstract art with swirling, organic shapes in shades of green, black, and blue on a light yellow background.

A small village in the desert. All houses look the same, built of bleached sandstone. The street is endless and deserted. No trees, no grass, no birds.
I am sitting at a small marble table in a shady tearoom, my travel bag next to me. Not far, wrapped in layers of fabric, a youngish looking woman is chopping fresh vegetables. 
A beautiful day, she says. 
A little bit of rain would do good, I answer. 
A man behind the bar tries to light a hand-rolled cigarette. 
Can I stay here for a while without ordering anything, I ask. I can´t pay, I don’t have any money left. 
Is no one coming to pick you up, the woman asks.

A Bed for Tonight

No, I came on the bus. My money lasted only this far. I am looking for work, cooking, cleaning, writing letters. In other languages too.
Where are you going to sleep tonight, the woman asks again. She looks at me a little longer now. 
    After a while she turns to the smoking man.
Luigi, she says, signora could sleep next to your nonna tonight. If she thinks it is the right thing, she could stay for a few more days until she has found a job. 
     She turned to me, to see if I agree. 
Of course I did. I wanted to thank her but could not speak. Tears overwhelmed me. 

Wargames and Wastelands

Abstract art featuring a grid of colorful, hollow tubes and an arrow-shaped object pointing to the right, signed "Sam" in the bottom right corner.
Drawing of abstract intertwined tree branches in shades of gray, with some parts shaded darker and some lightly sketched outlines.
Abstract landscape painting with a dark blue ocean wave, a red and pink sky, and a dark elongated shape resembling a spaceship or object in the sky.
A black and white drawing of a human head made up of intertwined lines and shapes, with a red background.
A sketch of two faces with closed eyes, blending together in shades of black, gray, and white, framed with a blue border.
Triptych artwork of intertwined blue hands and arms reaching through a white geometric frame, with a black background.
A black and white sketch of two people resting their heads close together, with one person's arm around the other's shoulders, in a relaxed and intimate pose.
Abstract painting with intertwining pink and brown maze-like shapes and tree branches.
A detailed black and white drawing of multiple intertwined hands reaching in different directions, set against a red background within an arched frame.
A surreal painting of a reclining nude woman with elongated limbs surrounded by intertwining, abstract, tree-like forms in shades of blue, orange, and purple.
An abstract illustration of tangled gray and yellow strips with a textured background.
A surreal painting of three yellow-orange animal heads, possibly a combination of reptiles and mammals, intertwined in an abstract composition with a dark background.
Abstract painting of intertwined, twisting, and looping tube-like shapes in shades of blue, gray, with some green accents, on a dark background.
Abstract artwork depicting a bunch of white and green crumpled paper with black outlines.

It was in Lviv in 1943. I sat next to my mother in a huge dark hall. On the stage a fat woman in a dark red velvet dress was screaming and hopping about. Shots were fired, she screamed even louder, jumped over a low piece of wall and was gone.
This was Tosca. The lady in the velvet dress, the one who sang. Our neighbor. From the apartment above, said mother.
Soon we could not go anywhere anymore. After sunset heavy bombers arrived. Our house was near the Lviv railway station. We lived for weeks in the cellars.

Tosca

During the day, however, it was mostly quiet. We children could go to school and in the afternoon play in the courtyard under the cherry tree. 
Once, when I came home from school, many neighbors stood in the stairwell and stared down. There lay a fat woman in a white nightgown.
She jumped to her death, mother said. Poor dear Tosca. Because of the bombs the opera house had to close, and she had nothing to eat any more. 

To The Child Never Born

Close-up of a nude person bending forward, with a green horizontal line in the background.
A detailed drawing of a red flower, likely a rose, with some parts in sketch form and shaded to add depth and realism.
A colored drawing of overlapping abstract human hands and feet, with some parts shaded in gray and others in pink, against a yellow background.
Drawing of intertwined hands in shades of black, white, and pink with a background of yellow and gray geometric shapes.
A pencil drawing of overlapping hands with abstract geometric shapes and shading.

It started in the last week of July. Hot cosmic winds dragged scorching fluorescent shimmer into the earth´s atmosphere and tore it apart. People found this show fascinating at first.
The gleam in the air looked beautiful. The mountains were mother-of- pearl blue, the cooled down dust in the streets and on roofs mother-of-pearl green. But then most computers came to a standstill. Lights went out, everything stopped. Many natural deaths were registered.

The Heatwave

Two months later gynecologists sounded the alarm. No new pregnancies were reported. Not in Karakorum, Belize or Niederbipp. Nowhere.
Everybody started to comprehend, that we, our children and grandchildren are the last ones on this planet.

Selfies

Abstract black, white, and gray scribbled shapes on a yellow background with a black and gold sphere in the upper center.
Black and white sketch of a face with large, empty eye sockets, an open mouth with a ring of balls inside, a tongue sticking out, and a nose. The face appears to be staring forward with exaggerated features.
A sketch of a skeleton with dreadlocks holding a paintbrush and palette, sitting in front of an easel, with a candle in front of it.
Abstract graffiti mural with swirling, interconnected lines in shades of gray and white on a wall.
A pencil drawing of a crumpled white cloth with blue shadows, placed on a black metal structure, with a dark shaded background.
Colorful abstract painting of a row of books with their spines curved and textured in various colors including white, blue, green, red, pink, orange, and yellow, set against a dark background.
A painting depicting a yellow building with a dark blue door, a green lawn, and a body of water in the background.

My bus disappeared round the corner. I asked the woman, who sat at the bus stop, if she knew why they closed the discount store on the other side of the road. 
Nix German, I Serbia, she answered. 
She loosened her shawl and showed me a pinkish red, barely healed scar all around her neck. She followed the scar with her fingers. 
I hospital, no dead. She looked at me, not quite sure if I understood what she wanted to say. 
Husband no pay, bad men make me kaputt. 
If I got it right, her husband in Serbia did not pay the “decimo.” They found his wife in this small German town and cut her throat. Not deep enough though. 
The next bus arrived. When she got off in the town center, she winked and smiled at me. 

Nix German

Wash Your Mouth Next Time

A woman at the supermarket checkout point turned her head. Wash your mouth next time, she said. You smell of onions. 
I really did have something with raw onions for lunch. It was a pitta wrap at the Turkish kebab place for two Euro and eighty cents.
Her words frightened me. People in the line behind me must have heard it too. 
I have learned by now. It is better to be careful when I have to be too close to people from here. I always step down from the sidewalk and let everybody pass. Especially if they have a big dog with them. I don´t want to be hurt. 
And I never quarrel. When they think they are right, I bend my head and move away, without saying a word. 
Before the end of the winter heating season, when the owner of my apartment comes to read the amount of heat I used, I hide all books in my own language. If he spotted them, he would look at me in a different way. My place would not be the same anymore. He might still shake hands but would not look straight into my eyes.

Daria Gan

1936 born in Czechoslovakia
1939 escape with family to Lviv
1946 return to Czechoslovakia
1968 asylum in England
2016 emigration and permanent residency in the USA