This is just fantastic, almost perfect I think.  I love how you interpreted the theme.  My only problem: the orange text of the first person is very hard to read unfortunately, I had to squint & lean forward a lot for that.  The rest of the text is easier to read, but can still be a challenge at times.

i love the painting! the colors are so soft and soothing, it's easy to see how thought provoking it is for the characters. the fact that everyone can get something unique out of art, informed by their own individual experiences, is  one of the many things that makes art so personal and so communal. i love how you used this story to show that

this was so on theme! the meaning of the artwork really does lie within the beholder, huh… i honestly feel ambivalent but certainly not apprehensive towards death of the author, which i feel you like flitted around here. having nero himself show up towards the end was such a treat especially with the build-up around his identity via elisa and xavier, only to have jin show up with nero the faceless in tow – and the irony of jin being the only one who doesn’t have a fancy, eloquent response in mind when he sees the painting, but still says something meaningful regardless.

i really love thinking about the role of art, regardless of medium, and the way we interpret it. if i’m the caged bird (the cage being society) (society being bad) then this is like the key! (the game being the key) (the key being good) ^_^