Inferno Series
This mixed media series brings to life scenes from Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, part one of the Divine Comedy. As I read through the passages, I felt as though I was spelunking down the dark and winding tunnels of the human psyche. The text confronts the reader with the unsavory proclivities and potentialities that we as human beings prefer to turn away from in ourselves and others. But, nevertheless, it’s all still there. The resulting artwork is an exploration of the shadowy side of human nature which, in my humble opinion and lived experience, is wise to understand and account for. Enjoy.
Like what you see? Prints are available for purchase in the Inferno Series shop.
TITLE: Savage Wood YEAR: 2023 MEDIUM: Watercolor and ink on paper NOTE: Dante is lost in the woods of mid-life. His path is blocked by the wild beasts of the forest: a lion (pride), a she-wolf (greed), and a leopard (lust). To move forward, he would be devoured. This scene reflects the overwhelming sense of having nowhere to go and no one to turn to. Only chaotic darkness that swallows you whole.
TITLE: Hell's Vestibule YEAR: 2023 MEDIUM: Watercolor & ink on paper NOTE: While lost in the woods, Dante meets Virgil, a fellow poet, who agrees to guide him back home. However, the only way out of the darkness is to walk through Hell first. This foreboding scene visually echoes the infamous words inscribed over the gates of Hell, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." Dante is met with the sight of countless souls stalled at the entrance of Hell due to their refusal to commit to anything. They envy the souls passing through to Heaven and Hell, because those souls have a fate. Those in the vestibule will remain there to forever feel the sting of an untraveled path.
TITLE: Limbo YEAR: 2023 MEDIUM: Watercolor & ink on paper NOTE: The first circle of the Hell is a melancholy place for the virtuous pagans and unbaptized. Virgil shares with Dante that this is Virgil's home. While it is not a place of torture, it is a place of eternal longing for joy that feels just out of reach. It reflects the ache of wanting to believe in something and finding nothing.
TITLE: Lovers' Circle YEAR: 2023 MEDIUM: Watercolor & ink on paper NOTE: The second circle of Hell is a whirlwind of paramours forever caught in their lust for one another. Dante's heart weeps for the doomed love that will never find rest. The throbbing pain of unfulfilled desire lives here.
TITLE: Afterparty YEAR: 2023 MEDIUM: Watercolor & ink on paper NOTE: In the third circle of Hell, Dante and Virgil encounter the gluttonous who gorged themselves on earthly pleasures. They spend their days bent over in the muck as sewage rains down on them like confetti. The stench is putrid and the music has turned to moans. The senses have bled into one another. Existence is an indistinguishable heap.
TITLE: Myopic Madness YEAR: 2024 MEDIUM: Watercolor, ink & gold foil on paper NOTE: In the fourth circle of Hell, Dante meets the miserly and the prodigals. They push heavy boulders back and forth endlessly shouting at one another. "Why do you hoard?" and "Why do you squander?" Their features are indiscernible, as each has been consumed by wealth (in their own way), and that's all that's left to define them.
TITLE: Limb from Limb YEAR: 2024 MEDIUM: Watercolor & ink on paper NOTE: Dante and Virgil trail along a boggy path through the fifth circle of Hell. It is in this circle where wrath resides. The souls here push, pull, and tear each other limb from limb or they choke on their own wrath, slowly sinking into the murky waters until the only proof of their sullen existence is a bubble that quietly rises to the surface, longing to burst.
TITLE: Flaming Tombs YEAR: 2023 MEDIUM: Watercolor & ink on paper NOTE: The sixth circle of Hell is reserved for the heretics. Dante learns that they are packed into flaming tombs based on their particular brand of false teaching. But they all have one thing in common in that they don't believe in the soul's immortality. They only believe in their own rigid dogma, which some mistake for faith. At the end of times, the tombs will be sealed forever and their earthly bodies along with them.
TITLE: Blood Bath YEAR: 2023 MEDIUM: Watercolor & ink on paper NOTE: The seventh circle of Hell is guarded by the imposing Minotaur of Greek mythology. Dante discovers that this circle is reserved for those who were violent against self, neighbors, or the divine. This scene imitates the striking impact of physical violence itself and reflects its black and white, unforgiving nature. Here, Dante looks on as those who were violent against neighbors are submerged in a river of boiling blood. Centaurs shoot arrows at any who dare to crawl out from the mire. Sharp reminders that violence is something that cannot be undone.
TITLE: The Deceivers YEAR: 2024 MEDIUM: Watercolor, ink & silver foil on paper NOTE: The eighth circle of Hell is for the fraudulent and has ten separate ditches, each holding a punishment corresponding to the type of liar who resides there. In the eighth ditch of the eighth circle Dante and Virgil meet counselors of fraud, those who advised others in the art of deceit and trickery for personal gain. The silver from their own tongues has fallen away, and they are now continuously licked by scorching flames.
TITLE: Farthest from the Bright World YEAR: 2024 MEDIUM: Watercolor & ink on paper NOTE: In the last circle of Hell, the ninth circle, Dante and Virgil encounter Lucifer who guards betrayers of loved ones, the divine, and homeland. These souls are frozen to their necks in Lake Cocytus, preserved in unshakeable misery and the gnawing pain of their own betrayal. Dante and Virgil escape through a passage that opens to a sky full of stars. A sky that those with persistent pride and blinding self-interest can never hope to see.