Artist's Statements About Individual Works

FERMEZ LA BUSH!

(Bumper stickers, buttons, signs)

President George W. Bush abandoned traditional diplomacy early in his tenure as president, putting the USA's relationship with long-term allies on tenuous grounds. When the French protested his behavior, U.S. Republicans reacted by boycotting French wine and eating what they termed “freedom” fries. It seemed appropriate to voice my own displeasure with a directive learned in French I: Fermez la bouche! (close the mouth) -- but with a twist. Fortunately, I did not sacrifice my own relationship with mes amis, perhaps because they were more offended by President Bush's actions than they were by my playing rather fast and lose with their language (...or perhaps it reinforced their expectations, and the joke's on me, after all!).