Red, White and Bullet

2022| acrylic on canvas | 30x24inches

This modern/pop art piece is meant to be a conversation starter.

I was inspired by Lady Liberty’s symbol of strength.

Lady Liberty is disheartened by America’s ever-rising gun violence. She is forced to cover her eyes to shield the pain she feels inside. The irony being, she now feels compelled to use a gun to shield herself.

Special Details:

• The rose represents America’s flower - the deep burgundy for the rose [symbolic of the blood that spills with each trigger that is pulled]

• Jean-Michel Basquiat-inspired crown on Lady Liberty’s braid

• golden bullets for [finger nails]

• Lady Liberty’s braid is an homage to the Native Americans, the original Americans

Lady Liberty's heart is breaking.

She hears the bullets.

She hears the screams.

She hears the silence.

She wants to pain to end,

she begs for the tears to stop.

But most of all,

what she wants,

is for blood to quit falling,

and for roses to bloom,

in place,

where anger and sadness

now fills the holes

of too many shattered hearts.

Christina-Ashley Barnett