This drawing was made for a contest. You can observe a lot of prison symbols on this picture which are seemingly not related directly to the deprivation of liberty.
In the center there is chimera which is a combination of a lamb and four human arms. Two arms are standing in the pink background and the other two arms holding a butterfly and a flower with two butterflies on it. As you can read in this blog for several times I try to find the meaning of these symbols as cultural memes. I did not find any hint on lambs with human hands on the internet, just a musical experience, therefore this chimera is incomparable to to any forms in the mythology.
The hands symbolize the power of the action. In the hindu iconography the goddess Kali wears a skirt formed from human arms. This means the release from the Karma. The release is the most important source of every deed, thought, lesson, teaching, wisdom and suffering in prison setting. Some prisoners feel they were misused by their surroundings and their criminal behavior is the consequence of their fate which was determined by their past, their parents' past, or the society overall. The basic ground of self knowledge in the prison is to face the crime but on the other hand also to face the circumstances which led the inmates to their recent situation. Both experiences are challenging because the inmates can confront and envisage their basic innocence which is symbolized by the lamb. "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." In this symbolization the inmates often see themselves as subjects to punishments for the sins of others. After some years in the prison the inmates realize that the control of their fate was not in their hands.
One of the best examples for this realization is the pre-trial detention period for a first offender. The inmate in the outside committed a crime, he was captured by the police, interrogated by officers, defended by lawyers, blamed by prosecutors and finally they are waiting for decision of a judge. But the criminal behavior is not the beginning of his lifespan. He realizes that his family was poor, addicted to drugs or to abusive relationships, therefore he could not enjoy the basic parental care during his childhood. In the larger society, in the school, he became a drop-out because of the bullying, the fights and the small robberies. Street-life demands a strong alliance in which the members are uniformed and they share all the items which they have. They commit a crime together but the others have more money to hire a professional lawyer, they can avoid the prison. These thoughts are coming slowly in the prison, mostly during the sleepless nights. The inmate purifies his mind - if he can survive the prison without drugs - and faces his fate. This is the moment as the need for understanding is born. But also the moment in which the feel of segregation creates.
The lamb above holds a flower which is a symbol of peace and feeds butterflies which are the symbols of change, freedom and the psychology (self-knowledge) itself.
I spoke to a prisoner in the Bochum Prison in Germany who spent more than 30 years in a correctional institute. He said that during the sentence there are stages of facing the challenges:
1. Facing the fate: this is the period of the pretrial detention or a bit longer.
2. Facing the prison system: this the period of habituation to the prison as it is.
3. No way out: this is giving up the hope completely.
4. Expansion of self: this is the breakthrough which comes quietly but also overwhelmingly. Their body stays in the cell but their minds are far away. My interviewee told me that his mind mind was bigger than the Sun and he was sitting between the orbit of Jupiter and Mars. (He was mentally competent completely.)
The painter of this picture is in the first stage.
Ezen a képen is láthatók pillangók. A bárány az ártatlanság szimbóluma, érdekes, hogy emberkezei vannak.
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