“Voting Booth” has now been rotated into my ongoing exhibit at Santa Barbara’s City Hall, along with several other of my works. I am so honored that my work has been exhibited at City Hall for several years now.
“Voting Booth” is an interesting piece. To best understand my intent, first look at the shoes showing below the voting booth curtains. You will see a variety of shoes, symbolizing our diverse populace. For example (left to right), you will see workman’s boots, then high heels, then sensible shoes and a cane, then a mother’s shoes alongside her little girl’s shoes (and her girl’s doll’s shoes), and then a businessman’s shoes and briefcase. Next look at the voting booth curtains directly above each pair of shoes – montaged into each voting booth curtain is what the voter wearing those shoes might be voting for. For example, the workman boots have a voting booth curtain above them with an outdoors scene and labor symbol (hammer), while the mother’s shoes have a voting booth curtain above them that has symbols of childhood education and playground. Above the voting booth curtains are symbols for what we all share, regardless of the ‘shoes’ we wear. For example, the fireman in the upper left of the painting symbolizes the services we all need for our safety and well being. We share the right to vote and we pay our taxes, symbolized by the voting stub and the wallet. You might notice an almost stain glass like overall feel to this artwork – that is an intentional nod to the passions that politics can stir. My goal is that the more you look at this intricate work, the more you will see.
A limited edition print of “Voting Booth” will also be on exhibit at the Ventura gallery at which I am the featured artist for the month of February (reception tonight!). “Voting Booth” has also been paired with an interesting poem on politics in my book, “Tempo – the Rhythm and Rhyme of the Artist.”
