Adrift — Chris Willcox

Orange and Green, 2018, oil on panel, 6” x 8.5” — *Orange and Green,* 2018, oil on panel, 6” x 8.5”

Adrift, Installed, Augsburg University, 2018 — *Adrift,* Installed, Augsburg University, 2018

Wall (Umbrella), 2018, oil on panel, 17” x 12” — *Wall (Umbrella),* 2018, oil on panel, 17” x 12”

Pink Ocean, 2018, oil on panel, 10” x 13” — *Pink Ocean,* 2018, oil on panel, 10” x 13”

100,000 Steps, 2018, oil and collage on panel, 12” x 7” — *100,000 Steps,* 2018, oil and collage on panel, 12” x 7”

The paintings in Adrift deal with human migration and, in particular, the global refugee and migrant crisis. I felt morally obligated to make work that might add to the compassionate and sympathetic viewpoint supporting refugees seeking asylum and safety. As Susan Sontag points out, “the western memory museum is now mostly a visual one,” and for reference I used media images as inspiration or repurposed them by fixing them directly to the panel or canvas. This practice allows me to work within the conversation that already exists. The “seams” between the borrowed photographs and the painted surfaces are meant to be evident. Using photographs as an element in the work allows me to honor their existence, power, and gravity. The painted surfaces re-orient the original photos towards a more dream-like space where a reset or pause button can be hit that allows for reflection where shock and horror once reigned.