"This painting was from a series done for the Seattle Opera. This particular opera, Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verde, 1851, is a complicated tale about Rigoletto, the jester of a prince. He not only taunts love, but in the end, in a morbid twist of fate, causes the death of his beloved daughter. The depiction of this character needed to feel playful but also with a hint of sadness. The black upside down heart is a symbol for the inevitable tragic outcome of the opera."
