dimensions: 16" x 24"
media: computer parts, gold leaf & acrylics on birch panel
statement: The first painting in this series, Abu Ghraib, presents the spectacle of a prisoner being tortured. As I looked at the photos of this abuse, I thought about the Muslim perspective and started thinking about similarities between Islam and Christianity. I saw parallels between the torments of Christ and the prisoner. I mimicked iconography of Christ’s crucifixion by using gold leaf, placing halos around onlookers heads and basing my composition on medieval paintings. These emblems of Christianity are juxtaposed with cut up computer parts. I connected electrodes and wires to the prisoners hands. This refers back to the present inundation with technology and to my source material.