This is the second piece of the Heritage Series I started concerning human atrocities in Asia, particularly the Khmer Rouge--a tribute to my family and to the countless innocent people caught in the crossfire.
The inspiration of this composition was from an old photo (perhaps National Geographic) of an Asian male digging through a pile of bones, looking for the remains of his relatives. What furthered my interest was a photo my friend, Ricky, took while visiting Angkor Wat; it was a simple image of monks looking off into the distance. Merging the two, I came up with this piece. The colors are subdued, with accents on the focal points--the robe and the flames surrounding the bones. The image on the right contains the monotone graphite drawing. I chose not to apply color to the monk's face to give a sense of humanitarian loss--of being a ghost in a world of struggle and hate.
