Raffaella and Human Folly

3” x 2 ½”

2010s

colored pencil, acrylic, brass, velvet, wood case

At Auschwitz-Birkenau in the Winter, an Italian Jewish girl, Raffaella, hangs commemorative banners in honor of her ancestors who perished there.  Their tattooed numbers are printed on the small flags.  In this work, I wanted to draw a parallel between the tragic hatred inflicted upon the Jewish community preceding and during the WWII era, and the men and women who fought for gay rights from the late 1960s (the symbolic Stonewall riots) through the AIDS pandemic, up to the present.  The impetus for this drawing, in its broadest sense, was to pay homage to all victims of fear and hate.  All are heroes who must be remembered and memorialized!  

The hinged, outside lid and bottom of this encasement, not seen here, have been further enhanced with a painted Star of David in 2016.