This painting physically rotates, reflecting the two truths of what our country was built upon: the enslavement and genocide of two peoples whom our forefathers deemed as ”less than”. This speaks to how the roots of history DO matter. What the past lends to the present, and no, we should never forget the truth, and certainly NOT idealize a fictional glory day. This is about how a piece of cloth and a delusional sense of patriotism becomes more important than the lives of human beings when built up as idols to ourselves. We have nothing to be proud of because we are human, stupid and selfish. We have everything to be ashamed of. We can only change if we wish to, and to start we must repent.

The two central figures are amalgamations of victims of violence and society: The man has the eyes of Trayvon Martin, the mouth of Breonna Taylor, the nose of Eric Garner, and the head of George Floyd. The woman’s eyes are of Karen Toth (murdered in 2018), the head of Mavis Mason (murdered in 1990), the nose of Marjorie Henderson (murdered in 1993),and the mouth of Tina Fontaine (murdered in 2014).

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