Hope Held Hostage
Leitha Thrall (Pinole, CA)
Bronze, 6” W x 16” H
Artwork:
HOPE HELD HOSTAGE depicts a cage of bullets that sits heavy on top a globe. Held inside the bullet cage is a baby suspended by an umbilical cord that branches out of its confines and blossoms into a rose. The child is hope; mankind places hope in children to foster a better future for the world. The bullets symbolize mass shootings, violence, and wars that surrounds the child. The rose and leaves extend out of that cage reaching beyond all the hate and destruction in the world and demonstrates beauty and love. With the umbilical cord though, it is shown that it must come from within. There is always hope, and hope can promote changes in circumstances.
Artist Statement:
HOPE HELD HOSTAGE bronze sculpture is one in a series of "Opposites Intertwined". Children and violence are two paths that are constantly being crossed. I create symbolic pieces that relate to these observations: a vulnerable child contrarily placed with implements of war. These elements of death produced consciously by the same world which creates life in its innocence.