None of This is Real Piece 3 - Original Collage on Canvas 
Mixed media on 8" x 10" premuim 1" thick canvas.  
 
This is an original series of three pieces that serve as a reminder that we live in a world built on illusions, fabricated rules, expectations, and systems designed to benefit a few while keeping others locked out.
 
In Piece 3, a vintage Model T game piece throws it back to Henry Ford, the leader of modern labor, who tied childhood education to industry and sold Americans the dream of work as purpose. A century later, a billionaire car mogul once again influences the landscape of the American people without care for their well-being, motivated by profit and power. 
 
A card from Operation reads, "Take the bread from the basket and you're rolling in the dough," exposing the truth of the healthcare system; built not to heal, but to profit. 
 
A Scrabble die reads "WORK" sparkling with fake jewels, a reminder that productivity and investiment in "fake" things is glorified.
 
A television flashes "Sit. Stay.” marking the endless distractions, entertainment and news as complacency. Keep watching. Keep scrolling. Don’t ask questions. Feel helpless. A skeleton perches on top, reminding us of valuable life and presence wasted. 
 
A real estate card declares, "Prices are going up” symbolizing inflated prices, stagnant wages, and a system built to ensure that home ownership remains a privilege, not a right.  
 
“Opportunity Knocks” cards hide just out of sight, the myth of equal opportunity, always within reach but never quite graspable, noting how the playing field isn’t level and it never was.
 
A vintage game timer is a reminder that time is only as real as we believe it to be and helps us consider that reality is just the limit of what our tools can perceive. 
 
Hand-cut lush lips serve as a reminder that the feminine is a currency controlled, sexualized, sold, and exploited for profit.
 
And still, a flower reminds us that not everything is fabricated. That nature, unlike this game, is real. Rarely it will find us on its own, so we have to make an effort to connect with it. 
 
None of this is natural. None of this is real. But in knowing there is power.