What is hidden behind the veil? This painting is several paintings layered one on top of the other. It uses mixed multimedia to create an unseen than supports the seen. View with the VooGlue app for the full experience.

Painted late in 2020, as Covid-19 vaccines became available and the US election result was known but disputed, this work makes the case that democracy is a vaccine against tyranny. It compares the composition of the US electorate and the composition of an infection. It alludes to armed conflict as a tool used by despots to seize control by force. It frames the quest for power, at the expense of civil peace and individual opportunity, as a game of snakes and ladders. Then it makes that case that the sovereignty of the individual, exercised in fair and open elections, within a cultural landscape of strong institutions, is a vaccine against the disease of tyranny. Finally, it goes to efficacy and makes the case that Tyranny Vaccine will only remain effective if it is vigilantly defended against corruptive internal influences of all sorts. The final short fired represents the threat all democracies face, no matter how long-lasting or stable they appear.

As you view what hides beneath the veil, reflect on your change in perception. This is sliced loaf art which moves you from your first impressions when you saw the artwork, to your new understanding as the story within the layers of paint is revealed to you. Carefully listen to the slam poetry, for each word is deliberate – thereafter perchance, this work will forever speak to you in new and intersting ways.