This particular piece, “Ashen Towers” is a play on multiple ideas.  It is reminiscent of the World Trade Center towers that were destroyed, and the subsequent life lost in the attack on September 11th.  In addition, the two dark marks appear to be brushstrokes, but in actuality are multiple ash-filled wax strokes that merely resemble the strokes.  This means that the work both speaks to the physical nature of art, with all the questions about what constitutes representation and figurative art vs. abstraction, and that it also speaks to the symbolical nature of art to evoke lament.