Willem Arondeus was a Dutch author and illustrator who participated in the Dutch anti-Nazi resistance movement during WWII. He participated in the bombing of the Amsterdam public records office to hinder the Nazi German effort to identify Dutch Jews after which he was caught and executed. The bombing helped save tens of thousands of Jews from persecution. His final words before being executed were:

 

“Tell the people that homosexuals are not by definition weak.”

 

Arondeus was openly gay before the war. He was in fact, denied by his parents after coming out and subsequently relocated to Amsterdam where he struggled to make ends meet as an artist.

I wanted to portray Arendous in a form that is completely free from time and space. To honor his relentless courage and self-love, I chose to depict him in a fashion similar to a higher spirit, say a god or goddess. In terms of form, I was inspired by the Chinese goddess Doumu to a great extent.

He has a calm, loving look on his face as he levitates above life and death.

More about the artwork

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