Prophesy Sculptures

One of the main roles of the modern artist is to comment on the culture we live in. These four pieces reflect my view of the world as an artist back in 1991. Cultural, political, and economic inequalities are common themes. Without setting to predict the future I ended up being remarkably accurate in my findings and downright prophetic in my warnings.

 Liberty Surrendered describes the aftermath of when civil rights are sacrificed for the ‘greater good’ of society. She has abandoned her crown along with the torch of freedom and she has allowed herself to be confined. All that’s left is a surrender flag on the corner of Ellis Island to remind us of where she once stood. This was long before 9/11 and the Patriot Act.  Long before the NSA got busted for spying on U.S. citizens. Long before the Dept. of Justice and the FBI in particular became politically weaponized. I say we vigorously defend our civil rights for the ‘greater good’ or else these kinds of injustices will not only continue, but escalate.

The Scales of Injustice is a protest piece which represents that ‘the fix’ is already in. Economic injustice prevails in a system that is supposed to be blind. If you can afford a $10,000 retainer for an attorney, then you can have your day in court. If not, then you don’t. It also represents our dependence, as a nation, on oil for energy. We should be the world’s leaders in alternative energy systems, but we are not. We need to become energy self-sufficient as a nation and become the world leaders in creating energy balance for all nations.

Urban Landscape is an architectural model of the different socio-economic levels of modern society. From the penthouse suite at the top of the alloy towers, down through the bronze middle classes, and further down into the ordinary steel working classes. All levels, even sub-terrarium (where the scavengers operate) have their own hierarchy. There is one visible door between bronze and alloy levels, and that represents education. There are ways to navigate the system and it can be taught. For example, metal itself is a commodity. Its future is bought and sold on the stock market. Not the metal itself, but speculation on it’s change in value. Economics is part of college curriculum. The irony is that the alloy towers couldn’t stand without the substructure underneath.

The Key to the Future is peace. Spiritually and physically, we as a people need to spend all of our energies working together and living harmoniously with nature. When I was a kid I always wanted to be an astronaut; but what if we are already space travelers and the Earth was our ship? What if the universe was expanding and the dark matter of space reacted to positive thinking and prayer as we moved through it? What if our souls lived forever, and to get past the end of time, we need to achieve peace within our minds, and on our planet, before we are allowed out into the heavens?