The title of this two-part work—resembling a religious diptych—derives from a passage in the New Testament gospel of Matthew, in which Jesus describes a broad, easy path taken by many that leads to damnation and a narrow, difficult path taken by few that leads to salvation. The subject was often depicted in popular prints from the 19th century, one of which hung in Droese’s childhood home (his father was a minister). Droese studied with the leader of the German artistic avant garde, Joseph Beuys (1921–1986); Beuys’s use of obscure private imagery in his works parallels Droese’s transformation of a familiar religious parable into a vivid but cryptic private allegory. The two egg- or womb-shaped compositions were carved into opposite sides of the same found tabletop, which Droese later used as part of a sculptural installation.

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