This piece illustrates Joel’s tendency to self-flagellate and deny himself what he wants the most: romantic love, sexual expression, and acceptance. As a natural pessimist, he thinks he will never get what he really wants, so he tries to convince himself that he never needed these things to begin with. As such, he enjoys self-flagellation and denial, which leads to a vicious cycle of self-sabotage and shackling himself away.
Joel is the main character of my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel.” Read his character profile here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/joel-farber
This was exhibited at the Holy Art's Reflections virtual exhibition taking place during the last week of May 2021: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/exhibition-reflections-room-iii-the-holy-art
It's also being exhibited at The Artist Lounge's "In the History" virtual exhibition from June to September 2021: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/the-modern-tantalus-in-in-the-history-exhibition-at-the-artist-lounge