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Chapter (3)
~ Midnight

Where there is violence, there is also tranquility. We typically underestimate the overlap between these two juxtaposing ideas, however, reality often reveals a different account. Motivated by the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, this work contrasts the harsh truth of the life of victims during World War II with the perceived greatness of the oppressors. The grotesque figure in the center draws the attention of the viewer. It is rising in the air, moving towards a light that is a presumed afterlife. The gold frame gives the painting an artificial gravitas like the gold violently taken from Jewish holocaust victims. The dichotomy between the lives of those who endured the events of World War II is all the more startling and perhaps opens our eyes to the complexity of history.