About this image: There was something about her sad eyes and slumped shoulders that called out to me and connected with my soul. I've had those eyes. My shoulders have slumped in similar fashion. I am her and she is me. That is why I picked the original vintage image to start working with. She caught my attention.
As I began working with her, I did not have a direction in which to go. I tried a couple of things and felt it just wasn't right. I let her sit for a few days and came back to her. That is when I decided to take her heaviness and sadness and make a political statement about the state of our country right now. Her seriousness, I felt, resonated with how the country is feeling...weary and tired from all the fighting. I wanted there to be a juxtaposition of feelings in this image, pride in our country with the flag and the red, white, and blue, but a kind of sarcastic punch with The Patriot as the title. Kinda of like, "Yeah, I'm a patriot, but I'm not happy about it." The media (in my opinion, who does nothing but promote and profit from causing divide and hate in the country with their twists of truth) is slowly killing us...can you feel the weight of it in her soul? I can.
"The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the mind of the masses." -Malcolm X
Have a wonderful Thursday. Don't forget to come out and join me tomorrow night for the opening of the Winter Blitz show at Arts By the Bay Gallery!
Hello, wonderful images. The girl does look sad. Enjoy your day and the weekend ahead!
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