Portrait of Empathy Print

Empathy, being the most powerful amongst his peers, bears a headdress embedded with 27 orbs—each representing 1 of the 27 classified human emotions. The disc at the center is his third-eye, granting him perception beyond plain sight.

He is the only one with the ability to imagine himself in situations of others and experience the world through their eyes. Born with a mature prefrontal cortex, Empathy was able to more easily understand others from an early age. Empathy is the very glue of society. And it is he who keeps humanity alive.

Brothers of the Forest series explores our hard-wired human emotions and how they shape our human relationships with one another. In the paintings, the figures symbolize our emotions and their coexistence. My intention with this series is to invite viewers to examine what they think they know about human relationship templates versus what’s actually out there in the world.

Brothers of the Forest was created for Photonic Playground’s 1st LGBTQ themed show and Orange County Pride. To see and read about the painting series, visit: www.edmundliang.com/brothers