War Flowers: From Swords to PlowsharesOrganized by Natasha Mayers and Presented by
Peace Action Maine & Union of Maine Visual Artists
"World Dunk" 2004 ink, watercolor, plastic, cancelled checks on paper and canvas 28" x 25" Click here for: Exhibition Schedule |
More links: |
My piece "World Dunk" begins its approach to the theme of
"Warflowers" by depicting the rewarding and harmless carnival
experience of dunking the clown as a cathartic alternative
to deadly warfare. The clown's oversized head resembles a
globe and it is apparent that it has suffered more
than just a dunking already. The underside of an aircraft
releases a bomb in a cascade of sorts, missing its mark.
Instead the carnival softball, striking from a more
appropriate trajectory, hits the target that triggers
the dunk. A hand held slingshot suggests a David and
Goliath scenario, yet exactly who the David is and
why he's targeted the world remains a mystery, ripe
for debate and speculation. That this is all rendered
onto a coffin shaped canvas presents a fiendishly perplexing
set of possible conclusions. The use of throw away clear
plastic blister packaging from a child's dart game and
cancelled checks all suggest that we need to look at our
daily domestic lifestyles and question our consumption and
our role as individual players in the overriding economic
forces that demand and create military enterprises.