'I Love A Man in a Uniform' is a series of paintings that meditates on official uses of force, the display of state-sponsored power, and the uses of political violence. All source material are photojournalist-generated images of police officers at non-violent scenes or demonstrations. As the 2016 election neared, I began to be increasingly more aware of the heavy armor and military-grade artillery used by local police in even the most innocuous circumstances. This body of work was created and displayed at Bushwick Open Studios 2016 in various locations.
oil on wood panel - 24 x 30 in
I’m very interested in the way force is used domestically against not just one disruptive individual but against social movements. Often those social movements have to do with a need to redress racial and economic inequities, and our society uses paramilitary power to enforce the status quo. As a member of the media, I notice the way these images are both fetishized and feared. These images are for me a way of meditating on these tensions, and a struggle to think of the real people in those uniforms, the very human trigger fingers that might protect or imperil any one of us.
oil on wood panel - 24 x 30 in
I lived through the LA riots and it was the second-most terrifying thing I’ve ever been through. I can still conjure the fear I felt that weekend so easily as I fled my Westside home in front of looting and vandalism.
oil on wood panel, 24 x 24 in
A pair of heavily armed NYPD police officers patrols the front of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue shortly after the 2016 election.
24 x 24 in, oil and alkyd on wood panel painted gold
A NYPD officer in full riot gear walks through the Trump Tower lobby as local fixture The Naked Cowboy is seen near the elevators shortly after the 2016 elections.
oil on canvas, 30 x 30 in
In August of 2016, riots in Milwaukee were sparked by the fatal police shooting of Sylville Smith, 23. A nightly curfew was set up when unrest continued for three days.
oil on linen, 20 x 23 inches
In July of 2016, Thousands of protesters gathered in Oakland Thursday night to rally behind the two men at the center of a nationwide conversation over race and the use of force by police officers.
Oil on rough linen, 20 x 20 in
A NYPD officer with a semi-automatic rifle protects Christmas shoppers in Times Square in 2015.
Portrait of the artist with three of the images from ‘I Love A Man In A Uniform’ as installed at Brooklyn Walkthrough in Williamsburg, May 2016. Photo by Stefano Giovannini
Paintings from the series ‘I Love A Man In A Uniform’ on view for the ‘Fractured Union’ exhibition by In/Case Projects at Brooklyn Fireproof, 2017. Photo by Meer Musa.
