Idol Promise Framed, Acrylic on Paper
22" W x 30.5" H
This work is part of a series of American flags meant to explore my own struggle to come to terms with the diversity of thought in our nation. The process is a departure from my blind-contour work. I often find that I cannot reconcile what I was taught about liberty, patriotism, goodness, or morality with what is actually being done in the name of those ideas. I have been asking myself how a nation that is in agreement about words can be in such disagreement about action. The background features lyrics from the Woody Guthrie song "This Land Is Your Land."
As a flat symbol, the reading of the American flag is effortless. It does not require reflection or introspection. It is like an order barked and then obeyed. But my flags are figural; they give shape to ideas, and ask the viewer to contemplate how those ideas come alive in the world. They are an indictment as well as a declaration of hope.
Primary Market