The system I focused on was that of a strict government. In the beginning, I narrowed it down to the strict communist rule that China has over Tibet. This forceful insertion into Tibet by China has led to a large amount of self-immolations by protest. In this painting, there is no specific government or group involved because I became aware that self-immolation as a form of protest is not only used in Tibet, but India and other places as well.
The painting depicts a flame in the middle of the canvas with a seemingly human like figure in the center. The “smoke”, or blue parts to the painting, on either side of the flame represents the governments that stand by and watch the effects of its forceful/illegal rule, or the “burning” of society and/or people themselves.
The process that came before the final piece was a mapping process, shown here: