This work of faceless men with paper crowns examines authority and corporate power. Whether it is in the corporate world or within the ranks of government power and authority go hand in hand.
As is all too common, it is overt corruption and the abuse of power and authority that become so problematic to our societies.
These portraits could really represent anyone but the faces are incomplete not because we want to cast our own images into the frame.
As figures with immense financial wealth and power, their identities are hidden or protected. The viewer gets a sense that they are too powerful to be implicated in any wrongdoing.
I developed the concept for these paintings while listening to a journalist speak about reporting. He said that journalists, to protect themselves, report what has happened but don’t report names or point blame.
It is intensional that the crowns resemble the paper crowns given away to children at beloved fast food restaurants. This reinforces the ties of profiteering, corruption, and exploitation within the corporate world.
They are created with sketchy charcoal and hand-drawn details in graphite sandwiched together between layer upon layer of clear and colored acrylic paint.
