Heng is different in that he went to Italy to look not so much at the abstract qualities of these frescoes, but at their subject matter, or rather one particular aspect of their subject matter. Specifically, he was interested in the symbolic meanings of designs featuring birds, animals and plants, most of which survived well into the Christian era from pagan times. The results of this admittedly vague and unresolved quest are certainly impressive to look at. Heng has devised a highly mannered, flat, linear style with which he brings together a bewildering range of images. Every work is saturated in such arcane signs, many of which represent notional opposites.
Birds are either captive or free.
Ships sometimes float, and sometimes are shown sinking. Trees are either bare or in full fruit. Animals run wild or are tamed. His main protagonist, the stocky man with the unchanging face, appears quite powerless to affect change. Even as he stands on the seashore watching a ship sinking, he remains totally unmoved.