Artist Statement: Hitler once said that the bigger the lie you tell, the more people you can get to believe in it. One of the biggest lies told in the 21st century is that racism is a thing of the past. Racism today is more subtle and insidious, with euphemisms and tokenism covering up the grim realities which some people still live with today. I know that racism exists in the world today, but I don’t beLIEve in race since race is merely a human construct. When I experience racism in my personal life, it is somehow comforting to know that I am not the only one in the world to have such degrading experiences.
This design depicts an equality sign, with four faces ironically still in the midst of social stratification. The subtle colors symbolize the euphemisms and tokenism which attempt to cover up the contemporary reality of racism. While depicting social stratification, at the same time, the subtle white and brown and black colors of this design make fun of the construct of calling people “white, black, red and yellow,” and so forth, racist labels which fail to do true justice or encapsulate real human beings.
--lessLIE
Northwest Coast (Coast Salish)
Acrylic on arches paper
Framed: 33 1/2" x 27"
2008
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