As if the previous picture wasn’t enough, this dark portrait is even more disturbing. This figure appears to be growing from grounded roots and rests there like an ominous omen that says, “There is nothing to enjoy about this earthly life so full of disease and destruction.” When one thinks of roots, one could be led to think of trees, which provide the oxygen necessary to maintain life on Earth. However, these roots are far darker than normal, which may indicate that life is being given and maintained, but only that life which brings death to the rest. In addition, the figure seems to have a countenance of sadness and despair, which may mean that it acknowledges the disease ridden environment in which it resides and that nothing can be done to improve the situation. This idea is further supported by the fact that the figure is turned away from the light in the work and is turned towards the darkness, as if darkness is all that the sad figure sees and it is all that there is to see.
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