Between shadow and revelation.
Some figures belong to history. Others seem to exist somewhere between history, symbolism and the unconscious. Astaroth belongs to the latter.
In demonological tradition, Astaroth appears as a crowned intelligence associated with hidden knowledge, temptation and mysteries concealed beneath the visible world.
Here, he is not treated merely as a demonic figure, but as an archetype of forbidden knowledge, transformation and the encounter with the hidden self.
Crowned and winged, accompanied by the serpent and his beast, Astaroth occupies a symbolic threshold: the human and the monstrous, the sacred and the profane, revelation and darkness.
The fire surrounding him is not simply destruction. It is transmutation — the force that consumes old forms so that something concealed may emerge.
Cold tones, deep reds, violets, blacks and aged-gold reflections were layered in acrylic to evoke the feeling of an ancient occult icon, as though the figure had emerged from a forgotten manuscript and crossed centuries to take form upon the canvas.
The Serpent
Knowledge, transformation and the power of what remains hidden beneath appearances.
The Fire
Transmutation — destruction not as an ending, but as the passage into another form.
The Shadow
Not the absence of light, but the presence of what has yet to be revealed.
