Phaedon Patricalakis analyzes the method and semiotics of his work in his recent book, while indirectly referring to the influences he has received: an index of dozens of significant names from the fields of music, painting, and theater is presented in his book, including figures such as Bernhard, Beethoven, Bonnard, Borches, Bouse, Brancusi, Brack, Da Vinci, Dvorak, Ravel, Picasso, Sengal, Jakometi, and others.
Engagement with art is a struggle and a lifelong endeavor: "Being an artist is painful and difficult. When I paint, I engage in a tremendous struggle. Everything is serious, stressful, and persistent. Everything goes through a serious process of rejection and acceptance. [...] Things reach their zenith when the painter wants to express something different from what the painting wants. If the painter tries to impose his will, he will break his face" (p. 57, The Magical World of Painting).
Perhaps his most important and revealing book, it sheds light on ideas, emotions, dreams, and techniques surrounding the magical world of painting, sculpture, theater, and music, with which he has been engaged for the past sixty years.
