Rainer Kriester studied medicine in what was then East Germany but was imprisoned for defamation of the state and then defected in 1958 to West Berlin, where two years later he entered the Berlin School of Art. Big Hand, which rises up from the ground, seems to represent the artist's earnest desire for life, resulting from his experience of persecution at the hands of the Nazis in the past. For this Heads series, he was inspired by the masks used in Native American worship, the colossal stone heads produced by the Olmec civilization, the carved stone warriors of the Toltec civilization, the Moai of Easter Island, and more. However, Kriester's heads are covered by masks, some have nails driven into them, and still others have their hands over the ears or eyes, as if enduring the unease and fear of the modern world. The open mouth is said to have been inspired by one of Michelangelo's sketches, but what is it shouting?