A Cage in Search of a Bird

Surrealist figuration by Dominique Cheminais from her latest series A Cage in Search of a Bird, inspired by her Many Shallows trilogy. This body of work draws from Franz Kafka's letters to Milena Jesenská, Felice Bauer, and Dora Diamant.

Many Shallows is a reimagining of these women’s lives, divided into three parts, where Kafka is not the central figure, but a spectral presence—a spirit of the forest. In each story, he inhabits a different location: a well, a windmill, or the center of a maze. Through their dreams, he calls to the women, drawing them deeper into the forest and offering them a transformative escape from the confines of their lives.