Refugee Nativity II

This is a rather timely nativity. Setting the Holy Family before a backdrop of chain-link fence, razor-wire and guard-dog dramatizes what might be the plight of refugees in contemporary America, or what we call the First World.

Charcoal seems an appropriate medium for rendering this decidedly un-romantic take on a traditionally pastoral scene. The back-lighting also adds a feeling of mystery if not danger. At top left one sees the Pyramids of Egypt which anchor this scene to a similar one in the Biblical narrative.