The Circus Show & Other Atrocities

I’m busy working on a new painting for the "2nd Annual Circus Show & Other Atrocities" held at A Bitchin' Space Gallery in Sacramento, CA this September. The exhibit juxtaposes the dark, painful lives of performing animals with the fun, amusing atmosphere of the carnival.

In doing research for my contribution, I found some incredibly disturbing video footage of elephants being stabbed with hooks by their trainers, and read about a multitude of other ways in which performing animals are mistreated. I had to approach the piece from an angle that I could relate to, so in addition to an elephant, circus tents, whips, and other more literal references, my tortured animal’s pain is masked by a vibrant splash of drag-queen make-up mimicking that of the ominous clownish, drag queen/ringmaster face (a.k.a my friend Mary on one of our infamous nights of "glamour" shots) looming in the background.


For more info about the exhibit, check out: A Bitchin' Space

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