Kabul Vendor, 2008
Tempera on wood, 4' x 4'

Depicts my feelings - confusion and ambivalence - about the US involvement in Afghanistan. I have used egg tempera, the traditional medium of icon-painting, because I think of it and others like it as "icons," images intended for contemplation and moral edification. (Please note, my confusion about the outcomes so far in Afghanistan in no way diminishes my respect for and gratitude to the men and women of the US and NATO armed forces who have placed themselves in harms way in the service of their countries.)

This is a synthetic work, i.e. it is a composite based a number of photographs of Afghanistan taken from the Internet. It incorporates many of what seem like contradictions to me. In particular, 7 years after invading this country to 'liberate it from the barbaric grip of the taliban' (to paraphrase our soon to be ex-President, hurray), we still see women covered from head-to-toe in chadoor, and young girls (11 years old!) married to men 3 or 4 times their age to settle gambling debts and such.

(I know this a rant based on my Western ideas about human rights etc ... but those ideas don't seem like bad ones regardless of their source.)

I have uploaded a "key" [link] that maps out the different elements in the painting. I have also put some close ups in my "scraps" file. Comments will be much appreciated.