“Don’t Say Other”
As protest to new American laws that restrict access to education, books and free speech I painted banned imagery and laser cut the text from education laws and court cases throughout the paintings. The remnants of the burnt out negative space is piled at the bottom of each work, symbolic of the destruction these laws cause. At the bottom of this webpage there are links to these laws. Feel free to read them and form your own opinion.
About these works:
The court case Leroy Pernell V. Florida Board Of Governors Of The State University System & Adriana Novoa v. Manny Diaz Jr. challenged the Stop W.O.K.E. Act at the university level in Florida. This act criminalizes diversity, equity, and inclusion training and education in schools and the workplace. It bans teaching critical race theory, LGBTQ+ content and learning about HIV/AIDS. In the court case it states that it is illegal to teach affirmative action in Florida schools due to its “repugnant” nature. Affirmative action can be noted as a law in past history, but no other viewpoint outside of its “repugnant nature” can be taught or debated. It also states that it is illegal to teach our supreme court justice Sonia Sotomayor’s biography, My Beloved World, because she expresses her gratitude for affirmative action. It allowed her to be educated at Princeton and Yale, which would otherwise not have been possible due to her disadvantaged childhood. This is just one example of the plethora of important books that are unjustly criminalized in education. The ACLU won this court case, thankfully. While enforcement of the Stop W.O.K.E. Act is blocked at the university level, it remains in place in Florida schools through the end of high school.
The 1776 Report and The New American Republic Library has President Trump’s advisory committee’s plan, The President's Advisory 1776 Commission Final Report, for American education laser cut throughout an image of a library. The books look very diverse, but upon closer inspection they are all different versions of the Bible. This image represents the argument in the report to have Christian based education in public schools while also claiming to respect diversity.
The painting Redacted has the entire script from Perks of a Wallflower, (one of the top ten banned books), laser cut throughout the movie poster image. I removed the gay character by making him a silhouette in the image and by blacking out any text that dealt with him. I also blacked out any non-heteronormative content and text about characters dealings with their experience with child abuse. The book is banned for this content. Schools in states where it is illegal to discuss LGBTQ+ content are requesting scripts that remove these people from the play. My painting visually demonstrates the damage done by removing such content. My favorite part of this painting, which happened accidentally, is that it is so much easier to read “the gay parts” because they have black ink over the text. For me, this shows you can try to deny a group of people exist, but they will always be there!
Each work containing a grouping of painted banned book covers has state education laws cut throughout. By painting the book cover I honor the content held within. The 1836 Project has the text from The 1836 Project - H.B.No.2497 Act and The Texas Constitution laser cut throughout. The 1836 Project was created in opposition to The 1619 Project and dictates Texan schools teach a “patriotic education” that upholds the values in founding documents, such as the 1836 Texas Constitution, and Texas’s Christian heritage. This Constitution sanctions slavery and states that only white males are citizens. The text in Georgia HB 888, which was created in opposition to Critical Race Theory, states that schools must teach every person in America has equal opportunity no matter their race or gender.
The painting of Stacey Bailey and her fiancé, (now wife), in little Nemo outfits is from a photo she showed her 4th grade students. The heterosexual teachers in her Texas school community commonly show images of their spouses as a way to personally connect with their students. Stacey Bailey was the only one penalized, put on administrative leave and almost fired for “pushing her gay agenda” by showing this very innocent photograph. Her court case, which she won, is cut throughout this image.
In several states it is against the law for children and teens to talk openly about their queer friends, parents, relatives, or their own personal feelings. So many profound books by authors like James Baldwin, Alice Walker or Anne Carson are now banned from students. Disney spoke out against the bill and Florida Governor DeSantis took away their “special taxing district” for Disneyland as retaliation. I painted Disney’s first bisexual main character, the first gay kiss on a Disney show and two gay dads with their daughter on Sesame Street and laser cut the “Parental Rights in Education Act”, known as the “Don’t Say Gay” Act, throughout each of these images.
The painting, Carroll High School Petition, is of students from Carroll High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana performing the play Marian after their school stopped production due to complaints about LGBTQ+ characters. The image has the text from the students' petition against the ban and the text from the district's board meeting. After hearing from the community the board decided to keep the ban in place. The students raised money and performed the play off school grounds.
You can read these laws and court cases by clicking on the links below.
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