The female figures are based on photographs of the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova in posture and surroundings. One seated on the balcony of her apartment, the other standing by a bookcase inside. The faces bear no resemblance to Akhmatova and are imagined. The distant dark figure with flute is inspired by Henri Rousseau’s, 1907 painting, La Charmeuse de serpents, The writing behind the figure in white reads:
“And in the depths of music, I could not find the answer. And again there was silence, and again the ghost of summer,” (lines from an Akhmatova 1960s poem).
The idea here is the restlessness that exists irrespective of place, music that represents beauty but remains dark, mysterious and turns into silence. Hence the title, “Double Entendre” which literally means, “a double meaning,” but involves listening and hearing. In her poem, Akhmatova listens intently to music only to hear its silence; beauty that is hopelessly barren; appearance that is faint.
