Illumination Project #10 "Nuclear Mom at the Sistine Chapel"
20' x 100' Double sided painting / sculpture with canvas and steel.
One our largest works to date, a truly unique painting. It was held aloft by four 10' steel poles and 280' of steel cable. The painting was painted on the underside of the this massive structure and only could be totally seen during the most violent desert storms. It was painted with a single 15' x 90' little girl. She was wearing a yellow dress, red ruby slippers, a white apron, a gas mask and a WWII US Army combat helmet. She was getting ready for the nuclear war in 1950. It was also silk-screened hundreds of times around the outside edges with images of fire and multiples of the little girl. Installed, the painting created a giant land sail anchored into the ground with eight 6' deadman driven 5' into the ground. At night with little wind it appeared like a giant Nordic Viking ship floating in the desert. During days it was lifted by 15' poles echoing the Calico Mountains behind it. During the three good storms the painting would lift 30' into the air and had the strength to lift half a dozen people right along with it. When ignited it created a river of fire 50 feet in the air and 120' long. Afterward the images could be seen in black and white, frozen in the ashes, dissolving into nothing when touched. |