Raffaella and Human Folly

3” x 2 ½”

2011, 2016

colored pencil, acrylic, brass, velvet, wood case

At Auschwitz-Birkenau in the Winter, an Italian Jewish girl, named Raffaella, hangs commemorative banners in honor of her ancestors who perished there.  Their tattooed numbers are printed on the small flags.  This drawing comments on the paradoxical contrast between the former concentration camp’s tragic past and its contemporary status as a tourist stop.  The hinged, outside lid and bottom of this encasement, not seen here, have been further enhanced with a painted Star of David in 2016.