Nigredo

At the beginning of the Covid pandemic, I was pretty sure we were all going to die. I was thinking about Goya's dark paintings, particularly "Colossus." That inspired the giant figure and the cloaked figure hiding under it. After that, the painting seemed to paint itself, and archtypes arose. The most prominent among these was the bird, a raven. As I researched these symbols, a word from the ancient practice of alchemy appeared, "Nigredo." It is the darkest place, the deepest depression, both end and beginning. Ravens cleaned bones, including those of humans, and thus comprised part of this dark imagery. Hence the painting's name.