The devastating reelection of George W. Bush as well
as the war in Iraq moved me to work for ten months to
complete a five-by-six-foot political painting that
expresses our nation’s frustration and fear at
the prospect of having George W. Bush mis-lead America
for another four years. The painting, satirically entitled
Saint George, makes clear that “W” is no
saint. The original Saint George slays the dragon (and
the painting includes Donatello’s famous sculpture
of the original Saint George), but my painting implies
that W is the dragon.
Saint George is in
effect four paintings on one canvas. Each section, a
quarter of a smashed mirror, represents emotional opposites
not only expressed in the characters’ faces and
body language but also amplified in the splitting of
the design into four topsy-turvy compositions. This
shattered mirror is a visual metaphor for the characters’
individual turmoil and the destabilization of our country:
in the upper left quadrant, the characters have tried
to console themselves with a night of excessive drinking;
in the upper right quadrant, the characters continue
to try to escape the situation;
in the lower left quadrant, a woman watches the President
on TV, viewing the outcome soberly and calmly;
in the lower right quadrant, a woman reads in a setting
that suggests learning, civilization, and growth to
counter the reign of W.
View the work from
"St. George" here. |
