Description about the painting:

‪‪#‎DeVIA28Challenge‬
by Nancy Rourke
"The Unknown Twelve"
LOCK motif, resistance
size 11inch by 14inch
oil on canvas

LOCK motif which is a resistance theme, refers to something that is kept secret or unknown. It also refers to being trapped or limited.

This painting is about the twelve Deaf children who died from CI surgery complications in 1984. Names and ages are still unknown. Food and Drug Administration kept documents locked. There is a safe lock box with a combination lock that says "1984 and FDA." The dots are what you see through the safe box, are documents that FDA kept and no one can see what was inside. There is a number "12" where the word "DIED" is written on each black hole. There is another hidden message in the painting. I did a painting "Dots Betrayal" from 31 Days in March project 2013 http://www.nancyrourke.com/dotsbetrayed.htm