Broker, 2021

Ink on paper – 262 × 189 mm

Broker is a meticulously rendered black ink drawing that offers a critical reflection on capitalism through symbolic and ironic visual language. At the center of the composition stands a male figure in a suit, depicted from the chest up, emerging icon-like from the picture plane. The suit is stylized and simplified, while the head is rendered in hyperrealistic detail, based on an electron microscope image of a tick – this grotesque hybrid intensifies the metaphor of parasitism in a societal context.

The figure holds a banknote in front of its neck, on which two pocket watches are linked together by a chain – a motif suggesting the conflation of time and money, and alluding to the time-based mechanisms of economic exploitation. In the background, the New York Stock Exchange building rises from a low-angle perspective, functioning both as theatrical backdrop and emblem of institutional power.

Executed with a combination of linework and stippling, the drawing references traditional printmaking aesthetics while conveying contemporary thematic content. The stark contrast, surreal distortions, and layered symbolism generate a tension between realism and metaphor.

Broker delivers a sharp critique of the self-serving logic of global financial systems, where human values are subordinated to monetary gain, and profit-driven interests exert a pervasive, yet often invisible influence. The tick-headed figure – simultaneously absurd and menacing – emerges as an allegory for economic actors feeding off the body of society.