Artist Statement Outline

"Never Good But Rules Of Paradise Are Never Nice
The Best Laid Plan Of Mice And Men Are Never Right"
(Nujabes, "Feather" lyrics. April 10, 2006)

When making this painting I chose to focus on the historical issue that people significantly remember, slavery. I felt this would be a good topic for me to do my project on seeing as how we just elected a new president that has a different racial background. My picture and quote are connected in several ways. The quote I chose from the song feather has a metaphorical connection to the relationship between slaves and their owners and also also provides a metaphorical picture of the environment in which the slaves lived in.

The first part of the quote that states "the rules of paradise are never nice" had me think of the environment the slaves lived in. For the slave owners, it was made paradise at the cost of the slaves lives. Although nice for the slave owners the slaves were still held against their own will, beaten, and worked hard for no pay or even freedom for that matter. Although slaves tried to rebel and fight for their freedom they were often punished harshly for this. A familiar case would be the case of Nat Turner where he rebelled against his slave owner by gathering other slaves and going from plantation to plantation killing men, women and children. The result of this ended in his death, he was hung when he was eighteen.

"The best laid plan" As I picked apart my quote I found this phrase standing out to me. The connection it has to slavery is the slave owner basically laid out the slaves life which is their plan. Although this may sound like it is not a bad thing I see it as it is. It represents how the slaves had no freedom and their life was planned out for them.

In the lyrics of which I pulled my quote from it speaks of the plan of mice and men which can metaphorically communicate a relationship between slaves and their owners during the time of slavery. When I was looking for a quote and heard that part of the song I knew I heard that saying before. After much research I found that the familiar wording is historically rooted. Although part of a song, the section that states "the best laid plan of mice and men are never right" roots from a poem by Robert Burns that was written in 1785. The poem is based on how a farmer runs over a mouse's home and shows dismay of the incident but at the same time talks about the hard times we endure. When researched, it may be theorized that the poem is based on the English repressing the Scottish but I see the poem to be open to interpretation. When I read the poem and heard the lyrics I thought of two groups of beings, one being dominant over the other. I applied this to my painting. I saw the slaves as being the mice and the slave owners as the men.

When creating this piece I hoped the audience to be able to understand the message clearly. I want the audience to take away the feeling of gratitude that we no longer live in this mindset where a group of people is considered better then another. I also want them to think about how we are progressing forward towards racial equality and how this has made out surroundings a better environment for the children of the future to grow up in.