Hungry Ghosts

In many buddhist paintings you will find groups of frustrated figures. They are called the hungry ghosts and were the starting point for these paintings. They are depicted with large empty stomach and mouths too small to take anything in. The central idea behind these figures is, that they desperately want to experience the beauty and richness of life but don’t know how to. Their physical anatomy prevents them from absorbing anything that is nourishing.
I wanted to paint a landscape full of these figures. I painted them busy, doing and moving things, assembling and disassembling the world around them. But as each of them is only focused on a single task they can’t see the side-effects of their action. They inadvertently create a world that is a mosaic of collateral damage.