Wisps of smoke are beginning to rise from the log. A young boy is carrying a bundle of twigs to feed a successful fire. In the bottom right corner, another kneeling man is rubbing two wood sticks together in the cross method.

The image is a b/w illustration showing a group of five European-looking prehistoric humans wearing animal skins in a cave. One standing man is drilling a stick into a log by rotating it between two hands.

I want to stan this film franchise.

The fire fizzling out and the absolutely despondent husband tells us the lady isn’t going to enjoy the embraces of her husband. Gambling has ruined another marriage.

His eyes gaze aloft as he raises his hand as if he is swearing off a bad habit. A servant is putting the parlor back to normal after the party. The chair of a musician is knocked over in the foreground with the sheet music and instrument scattered.

The lady stretches sensually as she glances flirtatiously at her handsome husband. He looks forlorn as if he has been ruined at the tables. A man is leaving with a fat stack of cash or IOUs. His expression tells us he’s witnessed a tragedy.

The baby wears a bonnet and a blanket is draped over their head. They are swaddled in a long gown and blankets.

In the lower left of the painting is another, larger wicker bassinet with fur-trimmed hood. The bassinet is heaped with sheets and blankets and pillow.

Behind them are four more figures. First, is Dad, in black, sitting to the right nearest the hearth. Standing, are the second nurse and the mother or grandmother. The second twin is propped up on a cabinet by mom/grandma on the right and is being fed by the nurse who stands to the left of the baby.

The nurse is looking over her right shoulder at the viewer. The baby is lying on her lap gazing at the patterned tiles of the fireplace surround.

Everyone is clustered near the hearth. Assisting the family are two nurses in red dresses and white bonnets. One nurse is sitting in a wicker bassinet with one of the swaddled twins as she holds a spoon during feeding time.

Inspired by Borges' classic short story "The Library of Babel" about an impossibly huge library.

I applied to do a solo show at the Harold Washington Library. I hope to exhibit the series there. Babel is about the current erosion of reliable consensus and knowledge by AI and current political actors.

This picture was painted during the Freudian and Jungian psychology craze. How many different ways can the ambiguously juxtaposed symbols in this painting be interpreted?