Faded

This painting received First Place in the 2022 2D Salon Competition and Exhibition at the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, CA. It also was included in the de Young Open exhibition from October 10, 2020 — January 3, 2021. "Faded" features a wall mural of the US flag that was painted in Chinatown following 9/11 and in memory of that event. Originally, the entire starfield was visible and "God bless America" was written under the stripes. When I took photos of this building for reference material the text as well as a portion of the star field had been painted out. I show the flag here with the colors faded, symbolizing the shift we have made as a country from the solidarity we experienced following 9/11 to the bipartisan rancor we have today. "Faded" also points to the current dimming of the founding fathers' vision of what America was intended to be: a beacon to all nations and all people for freedom and justice. With the COVID-19 pandemic being called the "Wuhan Virus," Asians are experiencing increased discrimination. Should you go to Chinatown today, you will not find this mural at all. It is gone, presumably lying under new coats of paint where a completely different mural now exists.

Diptych, 48 x 24, Acrylic on canvas. (For zoom: click on gray box with four arrows.) © Lynette Cook

This painting can be purchased at the Andra Norris Gallery in Burlingame, CA.