The “news” is very much part of my psyche, because before I turned to art as a full-time endeavor, I worked for more than 30 years as a journalist.
During the last few years, I found myself collecting newspaper photographs that reflect the human costs of U.S. policy in Iraq and elsewhere. These images are truly horrifying, yet I was also drawn to them by their artfulness.
It seemed natural for me to combine these images with the elegance and emotional power of East Asian brush writing, which is also central to my artistic work. I studied calligraphy for seven years while living and working in Japan.
In the series, Mainichi (the word means “every day” in Japanese), I have layered some of those news images with my lament after a Presidential news conference in 2007: “Bush kills us every day.” The “us” included Americans and Iraqis, as well as the shredding of “U.S.” ideals. Until now, our collective apathy has enabled that to continue.
Back to Mixed Media: 2008 »
The Mainichi Series
The “news” is very much part of my psyche, because before I turned to art as a full-time endeavor, I worked for more than 30 years as a journalist.
During the last few years, I found myself collecting newspaper photographs that reflect the human costs of U.S. policy in Iraq and elsewhere. These images are truly horrifying, yet I was also drawn to them by their artfulness.
It seemed natural for me to combine these images with the elegance and emotional power of East Asian brush writing, which is also central to my artistic work. I studied calligraphy for seven years while living and working in Japan.
In the series, Mainichi (the word means “every day” in Japanese), I have layered some of those news images with my lament after a Presidential news conference in 2007: “Bush kills us every day.” The “us” included Americans and Iraqis, as well as the shredding of “U.S.” ideals. Until now, our collective apathy has enabled that to continue.
Back to Mixed Media: 2008 »