I AM SOVEREIGN SERIES

Here emblems of power are deployed. What is sovereign? Power is sovereign. Who has power?

This suite of images combines emblems of power with symbols of struggle. Power and hierarchy are synonymous. Frequently power and struggle are linked.

Pat Hanly’s winged motif from the “End of the Golden Age “series is referenced. Hanly’s series was a protest in response to the 1981 South African Springbok tour of New Zealand, under the apartheid era, which divided New Zealand society.

The school boy, “Young New Zealand” alludes to the ‘school tie’ connections that exert a stranglehold in New Zealand.

The dog the schoolboy rides is a visual anagram of God. The visual anagram implies the subversion of religious belief and power in this secular age.

“I AM” as well as being the Old Testament name for God is a reference to Colin McCahon’s typographical works from the Titirangi Years. “Victory over Death II” explores personal identity and questions of faith.

A final question is raised. Does the long shadow cast by McCahon exist in part to the coat tail effect of referencing his work? If McCahon’s work has financial, and art historical power, does referencing his work increase the cache of the artist making the reference? What is sovereign?