Existing comment:
WAKE II
2017
Aqua-Resin, Hydro-Stone, various polychrome, canvas, and vinyl acrylic paint
Collection of the artist Dustin Farnsworth and Timothy Maddox
This collaborative work is both a memorial and a call to action -- the title alludes to both the funerary context and the #staywoke hashtag associated with the Black Lives Matter movement. Created as a response to the tragic amount of school shootings in the United States and the Boko Haram abductions of Nigerian schoolgirls in 2014, these skull-like masks represent children's faces: "Keeping the flesh of the face was purposeful . . . to capture more of the soul than death." Sign painter Timothy Maddox contributed the backdrop of slogans, which references the rich craft history of protest signs and banners throughout American history. First he paint ed miniature signs informed by recent public marches, photographed them swaying in the wind, and then projected them onto the canvas.
This project was supported by the Penland School of Craft; the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Windgate Residency; and the McColl Center for Art & Innovation. |