Shattered by the Second World War, my family in Germany was further split by the division of East and West Germany.

I met my East Germany family after the fall of the wall before I ultimately moved to Europe. The generations of people affected by both the war and the cold war is impalpable. Violations of civil liberties and surveillance is a horrendous part of the human psyche that we still battle. This seemingly innocent looking painting of what could be a man scratching his head is a subtle reminder of the value of our personal freedoms and liberties.

I painted these pictures as a set. They depict agents from a declassified Stasi handbook that was made public by the East German national archives in Germany. These are hand symbols that were given by field agents while trailing and surveilling dissidents.