Death to Democracy Series

Over the past few years, there has been a chorus of concern about the health of democracy in the United States and around the globe. According to The Democracy Index, less than half of the world’s population lives in a democracy “of some sort.” While the margin is thin, a one percent swing would tip the scale; it is symbolic of the decline of democracy over the last decade. One-third of the global population lives in outright authoritarian regimes, primarily due to the massive population of the People’s Republic of China. The percentage of the world’s population that lives in a “full democracy” fell to less than five percent.

There is a harrowing lack of trust in confidence in politicians and institutions today. As it stands, our system only serves the elite, not the mass public. This is the crisis of representation facing the so-called capitalist democracies today and this is the context in which a wave of protest has spread across the globe in recent years.

Death to Democracy is a series of artworks based on anti-war songs from the 1960’s. It is a reminder of how fragile our democracies are, and how quickly the scale can tip. Equality and human rights for all must not be forgotten, we must keep pushing forward to fight for our rights as human beings and to claim the power of the people from the few elite.

Digital paintings combined with artificial intelligence, series from 2022.