Dimensions : 39 x 47 x 3 inches
Medium : encaustic wax, burlap sack cloth, ashes, cord
Made : Mar 2018 – Jul 2018
About
This project was motivated by the USA’s ‘zero tolerance’ approach in 2018 that led to the separation of immigrant children from their parents at the American border. I think immigration should be made easier, not harder, and that America has the room and wealth to share with those less fortunate. The ‘zero tolerance’ family separation policy and treatment of families was a dark time that left me feeling outraged. I wanted to create a piece representing rupture and separation against a backdrop of something I regard as un-American and unpatriotic. The black background is encaustic wax pigmented with the ashes of an American flag to evoke revolt and despair. The red encaustic wax is a metaphor for a boundary or border. The crude stitches provide the feeling of a badly sewn up wound. The stitches also try to create a conceptual tension between the hope of repair and imminent rupture. The material is burlap, an uncomfortable material. Whilst this piece has no intentional reference to the sackcloth and ashes used in Old Testament times symbolizing debasement, mourning, and repentance, it is an interesting connection I discovered later.
Detail
Making
