The Council Will See You Now

This painting began as a tribute to Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, but it quickly evolved into something far more surreal—a study not of the human body, but of power itself.

The figures seated around the table are nearly identical. Their expressions are vacant, their suits uniform, their presence unsettling. They don’t feel like leaders or thinkers. They feel like actors in a performance—going through motions rehearsed long ago. What we see is not a meeting of minds, but a quiet display of control, ritual, and repetition.

On the windowsill, a flower appears to bloom—until you look closer. It’s not a flower at all, but a mushroom cloud, gently potted and eerily calm. One of the figures lifts a tarot card: the Hierophant, held upside down. Traditionally, the card represents spiritual guidance, belief systems, order. Inverted, it signals confusion, disillusionment, and a breakdown of meaning.

Scattered across the table are strange objects: mechanical pigs clutching pacifiers, golden dice left mid-roll. They seem playful, even absurd—but they hint at something darker. These are the tokens of a game played by those in power, where distraction is strategy and pleasure becomes a form of control.

The Council Will See You Now doesn’t shout its message. It lingers. It asks us to pay attention—not just to what’s presented, but to what’s hidden beneath the surface. It holds up a mirror to our times, where power often hides behind politeness, and spectacle is mistaken for truth.

This is not a call to despair. It is a call to wake up.
To look more carefully.
To think more critically.
To ask: who is really in charge—and why are we being entertained?