Setting the Stage

In this painting Victor depicts nature, shown as a person made of flowers, playing chess with the constructs of humanity (technology), represented by a person made of buildings. The players are down to the end game, as most of the pieces are shown as having been removed from the board. They lie in a jumbled heap on the tabletop, in the foreground. Each player has just one piece left on the board.

Although the chessboard stretches off to the limitless horizon, at the same time, the players are in an enclosed room playing their chess game. Shown hanging on the wall of this room is the yin-yang emblem, ancient symbol for the interaction of opposites, each of which contains an element of the other, Similarly, Victor shows the person made of buildings as wearing a flower boutonniere, and the person made of flowers as containing a small building. The implication is that the conflict between nature and technology currently occurring on our planet is part of the endless dance of polar opposites, yin and yang.