The painting,  Hell Is Other People , was inspired by a play, written in 1944 by French Existentialist, Jean-Paul Sartre, titled No Exit.  Since reading the play over 30 years ago, I have had thoughts and images of people that might be found, forever waiting in a room of misery, hopelessness and despair.

The characters  represent a compilation of people I have know and people I hope to never meet.  They  exhibit typical human frailties, bad choices and purposeful deviations from the path of good and true.  The people in this room embraced these choices, became them.  

If you prefer to simply explore this piece and contemplate the intended symbolism and satire on your own, stop reading here.  If not, let me introduce you...

I have painted Surrender before.  I knew her once, but have long since left her behind. She represents a woman who wanted to metamorphose, to evolve into a better person, but found the decision too difficult, so she just gave up

The crying child is Self Pity.  We do pity her, want to comfort her, are disgusted by her, annoyed, and a bit afraid. She is in despair over something so insignificant, something that she could change.  However, she chooses to do nothing to make it better.  She finds comfort in her defining misery.

Meet Greed. This man represents the hunger for winning at all costs.   Collateral damage  is his favorite catch phrase.  His cohorts, Deception and Death are his favorite tools, wielding them well, to satisfy his insatiable desire for more: more money, more power and more pleasure. It matters not that they come at the expense of us all.

The girl is new.  She feigns innocence. She doesn’t know where she is, or why she ended up there, but she thinks there may be a way out.  Lost Hope is all she finds.

Laziness and Vanity find common ground.  They use each other to get what they want by manipulating and extorting others.

Hypocrisy wears her belief on her shoulder, but not in her heart.  Her pretense served her well her on earth, but not for all of eternity.

Joetta Currie




 Tu n’es rien d’autre que ta vie
Spoken by Ines, No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre