The portraits of “Desiree” combined eroticism with horror to illuminate man's desire and fear of women. The painting concerns the psychological and physical violence directly and indirectly inflicted to sex workers and disenfranchised women-- when they are seen as sexual objects. The tongue is the symbol in which I imply the Hindu Goddess Kali as a metaphor of the all consuming aspect of reality for these sex goddesses, women who live among us as shadowy figures deprived of identities, and many are victims of the brutal enterprise of human merchandise, often used up and forgotten within a few years. The plight of their existence is a human tragedy in the divine drama.