the Artist as LISA LEE

2013
Pastel and Charcoal on grey board
14×18

The past few weeks I got into reading George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.” It’s a good book, and very insightful. It is so reflective of the current state of our world, the majority of overworked plebians controlled by the ‘pigs’ of the elite few who take a chunk of the credits for work they don’t do. I had read this book in high school, but back then I wasn’t a type to really pay attention in class and daydreamed alot, so I had no clue to what the book was trying to convey. Now I’m older and bit wiser, I see Orwell’s vision eerily coming to life before my eyes. And it’s not just limited to Communism, which was the primary focus of the novel. Any system is prone to this kind of abuse and oppression; power and money is the roots of all human evil.

This was my first attempt at full on pastel drawing. I was never much good at pastels, only to use them as accents over other drawings and paintings. And working on a dark colored board I can see just how effective the medium can be. It makes me want to experiment some more…