Rumors

There's a rumor going around that my work "rumors of war (dropped a bomb on me)" will be in the AVAA Member's Show at the Austin Art Space Gallery. Come check out the show September 8th - October 7th. The opening reception will be on September 9th, with live music from 6-8.

"rumors of war (dropped on bomb on me)" is a graphite and encaustic work on paper. I drew the scene while listening to news reports of the war. From San Salvador to Raqqa, war has been the background noise of my life. There's all this fighting and killing and machines, exploded, civilian casualties, insurgencies, covert operations. Drones are flown by kids in California, dropping bombs by happy hour. One bomb was so big, they made her the matriarch and you can watch her blow on youtube, though we can never be sure how many people she killed. 

And all this goes on, what can I do? I go on living my life. I don't believe in war on principle but I also pay my taxes. On and on the war it goes. The army's a good way to get out of the ghetto, the barrio, suburbia. Machines are built and destroyed. Lives are ruined, extinguished. And I see it all on my phone. I read about it in the morning with my coffee, on the bus, on the toilet, in my bed at night. This war, I live with, this war without end, this underpinning of our society. Maybe in a few centuries they won't show our art in museums. They'll exhibit our trucks, improvised explosive devices, mortars and rifles, night-vision goggles, our bloodied boots and exploded cars.