“No worries. I recycle.” By Lori Shields
Most pieces I work on start to make sense after I throw down the first few layers of paint. (Not a lot of preplanning.) In the case of this piece, I started thinking about how childhood myths would be different in today’s world. (Dragons weaponized for war, vampires pulling heists at blood banks, witches flying in the moonlight wearing gas masks, and mermaids floating around on islands of plastic trash.) This time, instead of letting the paint take me where it wanted to go, I made the paint succumb to my vision.
I think the mermaid’s nonchalant attitude about this mess she is sitting on and her preoccupation with herself is indicative of a lot of people who just don’t care about anything but themselves. And it is also indicative of me on certain days or in certain moments. I probably spend way too much time being concerned about myself when there is a whole world of trouble that I could help turn around. So the painting is a confession of sorts. It’s about self-absorption in the midst of crisis. And though I am not quite as babelicious as my mermaid, I have been much more politically active this legislative session than she ever will be.