"The Triumph of Saint George" (2003)

Not content to stay in his Texas ranch and chop the bushes, George W. Bush invaded our post-GWB era with a blitz of media event to promote his book.  This intense publicity brought back many bitter memories of that era devoid of human decency and humanity.

One good thing came out of that wreckage for me was a group of emotionally highly-charged, iconographically rich paintings, which formed the main body of my ongoing "Apocalypse Series".  Below is an excerpt from my statement for this series:

As a society, I wonder whether we have lost track of the human spirit. We live in a privileged time and place, with abundant materials to consume.  We are blessed with scientific understanding of the physical universe and we have been able to plant our national flag in the virgin soil of the moon.  But have we built the world we ought to live in?  As an artist and a human being I have serious doubts.  Can we truly be meant to be the masters of the earth, if reckless consumption, pollution, and mass extinction are the result of our mastery?  Will we destroy our own civilizations through irresponsible selfishness?  Will our extinction follow those of whales, tigers, foxes and dragonflies?

One of these paintings was a direct protest to George W. Bush's drumming up of invasion to Iraq - The Triumph of Saint George, a Cassandra's cry, deemed as traitorous by many at the time.  I saw burning oil fields, I saw nuclear bomb's explosions and skeletons of burned houses, I saw bones and skulls stacked up on which a triumph George W Bush flashed his derisive smirk.  He carried a large flag with coat of "Saint George" - red cross on white cloth.  On the banner's staff, he carried his trophy, a lump of monstrous object -- I couldn't deny his military might and I was sure that he would parade a trophy about, whatever it might be.

Whatever George W. Bush and his staunch supporters and apologists might justify for this atrocious actions against humanity and democracy, I, an American citizen grew up in a totalitarian China have this to say, complacency destroys democracy.  Though we yanked our country from the dangerous ant-democratic road GWB led us onto, we might slip back very easily.



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