Death of a Hero | Digital Painting [2018]

This piece is about the grief, sense of abandonment + unresolved anger that comes with the departure of a loved one unexpectedly. Sometimes, the separation is physical, other times death separates people. No less painful, is the sense of loss + betrayal that accompanies the loss of security + safety people experience when they realize their Hero has faltered irreparably, that they can no longer trust the person they once put all their faith in. The young man has betrayed himself with his tears. The anger in his eyes represents his feigned resilience. The tears represent his heart’s inability to let go of his fallen Hero.