The MadDness of Trump!
Against the backdrop of the impossible to ignore 2016 Presidential race, I created a series called The MadDness of Trump! using mixed media to produce works fueled by anger, frustration and disbelief at the possibility of a Trump Presidency. At first the pieces were mocking and cartoon-like, reflecting the media’s casual write-off of the then impossible candidate.
Then things turned and Trump’s ascension became real. In April 2016 I watched Chris Matthews, of MSNBC, interview Donald Trump. During the interview, I observed, for what I think was the first time during this campaign, Trump seemingly off balance, and not full of his usual confidence and narcissistic bravado. Considering his normal unflappable nature this seemed odd, and so I decided that I needed to capture this somehow.
I began to photograph the TV screen with my iPhone and using the high-speed, (multiple-shot function), I took about 300+ photos. With these images I began to build collages that capture Trumps multiple, disparate personalities. In these works, l believe, his truly conflicted, disturbing nature begins to be revealed. At once, contradictory, creepy, binary and unsettling, this dismantling, rearranging and reassembling of imagery is the essence of a second series, Disconstructing Trump.
This work has evolved as the race and candidates changed and it was no longer a joke. The candidate was real and the newer work reflects a public sentiment of fear of his presidency.
