2020
16 × 12 in.
Acrylic on Canvas
Original / 1 of 1
A bunch of birds are trying to kill each other.
That's pretty much the painting.
Except none of them are killing each other like birds would.
They're doing it like we would.
They have guns. Knives. Explosives. Weapons. They're attacking each other from every direction while flying around in what looks like a bright, happy blue sky.
I liked the idea of taking something as simple and harmless looking as a little yellow bird and giving it all of the violent stupidity humans have managed to invent.
Animals fight. Animals kill. That's part of nature.
But humans took that basic instinct and got creative with it.
We invented increasingly complicated ways to hurt each other. We built weapons. We created wars. We figured out how to kill somebody standing nowhere near us. Then we continued inventing newer and more efficient ways to do it.
So I imagined what would happen if birds suddenly started behaving like humans.
It would be fucking ridiculous.
And that's kind of the point.
The bright colors and cartoon birds make the painting feel playful at first. You might see the blue sky, clouds, and goofy yellow characters before realizing that the entire scene is basically a massacre.
I like that contradiction.
Something can look funny and still be saying something darker underneath.
The birds aren't supposed to represent particular people or countries. There isn't a good side or a bad side. They're all participating in the same stupidity.
They're just birds doing what humans do.
Maybe that's what makes the painting funny.
And maybe that's what makes it a little uncomfortable too.
Take away the feathers and suddenly it doesn't look quite as ridiculous.
2020
16 × 12 in.
Acrylic on Canvas
Original / 1 of 1
A bunch of birds are trying to kill each other.
That's pretty much the painting.
Except none of them are killing each other like birds would.
They're doing it like we would.
They have guns. Knives. Explosives. Weapons. They're attacking each other from every direction while flying around in what looks like a bright, happy blue sky.
I liked the idea of taking something as simple and harmless looking as a little yellow bird and giving it all of the violent stupidity humans have managed to invent.
Animals fight. Animals kill. That's part of nature.
But humans took that basic instinct and got creative with it.
We invented increasingly complicated ways to hurt each other. We built weapons. We created wars. We figured out how to kill somebody standing nowhere near us. Then we continued inventing newer and more efficient ways to do it.
So I imagined what would happen if birds suddenly started behaving like humans.
It would be fucking ridiculous.
And that's kind of the point.
The bright colors and cartoon birds make the painting feel playful at first. You might see the blue sky, clouds, and goofy yellow characters before realizing that the entire scene is basically a massacre.
I like that contradiction.
Something can look funny and still be saying something darker underneath.
The birds aren't supposed to represent particular people or countries. There isn't a good side or a bad side. They're all participating in the same stupidity.
They're just birds doing what humans do.
Maybe that's what makes the painting funny.
And maybe that's what makes it a little uncomfortable too.
Take away the feathers and suddenly it doesn't look quite as ridiculous.
