War and Peace | 36" x 24"

Acrylic on cradled wood panel

Permanent Collection of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum

While working on this painting, I was thinking about the complicated relationship between war and peace. The red boxing gloves represent conflict, aggression, and the constant presence of violence within humanity, while the white dove symbolizes peace, love, and vulnerability. I want this painting to feel emotionally conflicted. The boxing gloves appear to cradle and protect the dove...or do they trap and surround it? “War and Peace” asks the question: does peace exist because of war, or does war prevent peace from flourishing? I invite the viewer to reflect on their own opinions on how closely peace and conflict are tied together, and whether one can exist without the other.