new work: as yet untitled

i've been working on this painting for 3 days (which is probably the longest i've spent on one piece ever), but i'm happy with the outcome.  the painting is about the state of education in the US, which is a bit deplorable (as one can tell from my not so subtle combination of images).  each and every image in the painting help to tell the narrative.  the patterns (taken from a dress mindy wears and different wallpapers on the web) give the piece a quilt-like quality that provide a solid 'americana' base for all of the images.  i'm always looking for ways to include my own heritage, place, and people into my work, and the idea of my assemblages resembling a quilt seems to fit the bill.  the students are all money green, because well, money just had to find its way into the piece, however subtly it may be.  i hate standardized education.  i hate it because students don't learn anything other than how to be a drone.  i teach independently through arts organizations and non-profits who support alternative forms of education.  my goal is to teach kids to think for themselves.  to experiment.  to discover.  regurgitation of information is worthless, especially without being able to put that information into practice.  the US school system fails miserably.   below are details of most of the stencils, with reasons why i used them.

the first panel i completed.  it is the US capitol and a grouping of church steeples and buildings meant to create the basis for the where education comes from here.  it is quite sad that learning is a political opinion.  the starred disclaimer reads, "FDA and DOE approve this message" and is from the stencil on the image below.

right in the middle of the work is the good ole school lunch.  notice that it is painted on a cafeteria style tray.  is it not embarrassing that this is what passes as food for our youth?  no wonder we live on mcd's and kfc.  (see the above image for the disclaimer on the star).

i posted this panel yesterday, but this image is a bit better (not quite so glarey).  this is the classroom i remember as a kid (well plus about 25 more students).  but these 4 are the stereotypical students.  the uninterested, the over-achiever, the sleeper, and the daydreamer.

it's the back to school sale with your teacher and icon, uncle sam.  i actually love the idea that 'back to school' means a marketing scheme and credit card debt, like some kind of precursor to christmas.  it is also a play on the idea that education itself is for sale.  one must continue to feed the 'buy buy baby' economy.

text books with redefined titles.  i never bought a text book while in college.  they are just vast encyclopedias of generalized horseshit.  you want to learn,  read a book. not a text.  in fact, read several books, from different points of view, then make up your own damn mind about a 'fact.'

all of the people are the color of money (if you hadn't noticed).  this is important on 2 levels.  one because someone is getting rich off of these kids.  and two, because humans are really our greatest natural resource.  just look at our economy: you can drill all the oil you want, but if there's not humans to buy it, then it is just black goo.