Willem Arondeus was a Dutch author and illustrator who participated in theDutch anti-Nazi resistance movement during WWII. He participated in the bombingof the Amsterdam public records office to hinder the Nazi German effort toidentify Dutch Jews after which he was caught and executed. The bombing helpedsave 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 iscompletely free from time and space.

To honor his relentless courage andself-love, I chose to depict him in a fashion similar to a higher spirit, say agod or goddess. In terms of form, I was inspired by the Chinese goddess Doumu to a greatextent. He has a calm, loving look onhis face as he levitates above life and death.