Kalashnikov Orb: Nail Rain Series

Utilizing geometric abstraction the artist cast a cynical eye on the current wave of fundamentalism we are witness to in the twenty-first century. Playfully, he strategically places iconic imagery in unexpected places, in shadows or pixilated on the tips of cylinders. Specifically, in "Kalashnikov Orb" the viewer will find the iconic figure of Christ lying in repose with his feet projected toward the viewer on the cylinder heads. Here the artist incorporates the same foreshortening of Christ’s figure depicted in Mantegna’s famous masterwork (The Lamentation over the Dead Christ). Upon closer examination one finds a Kalashnikov rifle symbolic of Middle Eastern violence. It lay covertly on the lower half of the orb in the shadows of the poles. In the lower left corner one finds in the shadow of the orb a subtle image of a monk praying. Placed before the monk is the shadow in the shape of a cross on a hill which is formed by the geometric forms floating above. As in other paintings, the foreground holds symbolic nails which in this piece represent dual meanings. Here they serve as a reminder of life’s dangers and hardships and to the suffering of Christ. Their suspension adds to the surealism of the work.