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"WE DON'T DO BODY COUNTS"
 General Tommy Franks, US Central Command

Mixed media on canvas, 60" x 48"

Detail showing layout of names

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

A mock-up of a police chalk outline showing the image left by a dead body.

Contained within the chalk outline are around 3,000 names of dead Iraqis, supplied by
Iraq Body Count (IBC). This is a tiny fraction of the number of people who have now died
as a result of the Iraq war. A study published in The Lancet in October, 2006 claimed that fatalities could be as high as 655,000. Many accept that this figure is probably now closer to a million people. The US military viewpoint according to General Tommy Franks (and backed by Donald Rumsfeld before he left office), has always been that foreign fatalities don't count when US commanders add up the numbers.

The IBC figure is out of date with every second that passes. Since George Bush famously declared "Mission Accomplished", 1000 Iraqis were reported to be dying every month, many of whom could not be identified. Although this figure dropped at one stage, 2008 saw an escalation in Iraqi deaths once more.  

 

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'THE VIRAL ARMY'

12" x 12"
Mixed media on canvas

THE BLAIR 1441 VIRUS Begins life as one thing and mutates into a far more dangerous strain. Purports to be 'just a regular kinda virus', but its activities suggest it has sinister, secondary characteristics. Scientists cannot find out whether it's been affected by the MMR jab.

THE BUSH U-238 VIRUS A vicious organism which could endanger all life forms on earth. Virulent and damaging, it spreads at an uncontrollable rate. No anti-viral measures have been able to contain it.

 

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'THE neo-CON ARTISTS'

This group of neo-Conservatives will go down in history for successfully fooling their own people and many in the British government into supporting their dubious mission. Five canvases depict some of the key movers and shakers who orchestrated the Iraq war: Condoleeza Rice, Richard Perle, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz. These shadowy figures are in turn fascinating and terrifying.

DICK CHENEY  12" x 12" Acrylic and oil on canvas

The Two Sides of Dick An interesting observation - when Cheney gives interviews or   speeches, his lip curls into a snarl on one side and his left eye widens, resulting in half his face looking totally deranged. Perhaps this shows the real Dick?

 

 

RICHARD PERLE A lizard with dead, black eyes 12" x 16"             Acrylic and oil on canvas

CONDOLEEZA RICE Acrylic, oil, blood on canvas 8" x 20" The woman who might as well wear bombs for earrings, as depicted here. Does she see herself as the next leader of the 'free' world? Purports to be a good Christian soul - a woman claiming high values and even higher morals, yet who prostitutes herself through war to get to the top. From the alternative side-view, I have shown her full of fear. One day she may realise that she will have to answer to her god.

DONALD RUMSFELD Old, redundant and very mean. Appears to take a perverse pleasure in observing what his power has achieved. 8" x 20" Acrylic and oil on canvas

PAUL WOLFOWITZ The most sinister man on the planet? 10" x 12" Acrylic and oil on canvas

 

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FAMILY ALBUM Mixed media on board A wedding party in Mukaradeeb, Iraq was the site of a massacre by U.S. forces on May 19, 2004.   Local accounts state that 42 men, women and children were killed during the incident which took place around 3am, when most of the guests were sleeping. Whole families were wiped out in seconds. What should have been a joyous event turned into tragedy. Afterwards I came across an image of a man with a clutch of passport photos cradled in his hands. It was all that was left of his family. The pictures looked so fragile, as though the slightest breeze would have blown them away into the darkness like departing spirits.

 

 

'AMAL'
The Arabic word for hope    

                                          (detail)

 

Acrylic on canvas
60" x 48"


One of Iraq's best-loved symbols is the date palm. Maysaloun Faraj sent me an
image of a once beautiful palm grove in the south, reduced to a surreal, barren
wilderness of decapitated trees. Although war-torn, they remain standing   - resilient,
strong and dignified like the Iraqi people. A lone kite in the sky represents the kite
festival which went ahead in spite of dangerous circumstances for the orphaned
children of Baghdad, after the invasion in 2003. It is symbolic of the Iraqi people's
resolve to rise above the devastation which has been wrought on their country, and
their hope that one day they may experience true liberation.

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'ON HIS WATCH'
Mixed media installation - 46"w x 77"H

 

A selection of news images - decoupage-style, moulded onto the female form. This tells the story - in headline 'soundbites' - of the current Iraq conflict. Photos of dead British soldiers published in the press encircle the waist and hem, surrounded by grinning playmakers. The piece takes on the role of both war memorial and storyteller, displaying a graphic account of the conflict so far. The female form represents the way women are hit hardest by war - losing their children and husbands, their breadwinners and protectors. The poppy wreath represents how little we've learned from history and how we are destined to trudge our troops around the endless circle of war. The cruciform is a reference to the faith of the politicians who regularly remind us what good Christian men they are, whilst under the leadership of the evangelist Blair still massacring women and children on a daily basis. This piece was originally called 'Chip Wrapping' - a cynical reference to the disposable nature of even the most devastating news. We are shown atrocities for a fleeting moment in the press before they become today's proverbial chip wrapping.

 

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'CHAIN OF COMMAND' Lindy Englund - a woman who unwittingly became one of the iconic images of the Abu Ghraib scandal. Destined to be pumped full of lead from the minute she was born.

 

 

 

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'THE HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON'

Detail:

A series of 7 small canvases displayed as a hanging mobile.

They depict a delicate and pretty collection of submunitions, nestled amongst the
fruit and flowers where they have landed. Up to 30% of cluster bomblets used by US
and UK forces in Afghanistan and Iraq fail to explode, and continue to lie loose amongst
the crops and fields where children play and farmers tend the land. In Afghanistan
particularly, bright yellow bomblets closely resemble food packages dropped by the
USAF, enticing children to pick them up. Submunitions have been designed to
resemble familiar objects such as cans of drink, pens, figs or apples.

Mixed media on canvas.

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'LEGACY'  -  (THE MISCARRIAGES OF JUSTICE)
6' High installation - Modified pregnancy mannequin,
mixed media and video installation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A piece displaying a foetus inside a small 'living room' within the tummy of an Iraqi woman.

A slowly pulsating green light indicates the toxic, radioactive nature of the child's environment. Via her mother, the child-to-be has already been subjected to a barrage of stress, poor diet, polluted water and ineradicable toxins such as depleted uranium (DU).
Her mother was exposed to between 300 (official figure) and 800 tons of this radioactive material during the first gulf war. Newly conceived babies in Baghdad are now also dealing with 200 tons of DU which were dropped on the capital city alone after the 2003 invasion. Thanks to the occupying forces, the baby will be born into a war zone with limited medical supplies and virtually no access to doctors. More can be read about the difficulties 
of giving birth in Iraq today by visiting the Guest Comments section of our website.

Meanwhile, for a little escapism, a small TV plays animated cartoons in the corner of the room. The ubiquitous television provides entertainment when everything else is bleak. But only if you have electricity, of course. 

And on a plus point, at least this child will have the fun and enjoyment of several
aspirational lifestyle brands coming her way as she grows up (to help take her mind off things). Before she knows it, she will be the lucky recipient of Starbucks, Nike,
McDonalds, Taco Bell, Disney, Coke, Dunkin' Doughnuts, Wal-Mart, Fox, Nickelodeon,
KFC, American Express…and many more.

With thanks to 2DTV (www.2DTV.co.uk) and
Dave Counts (www.toostupidtobepresident.com)
For their wonderful animations.

Below are some links to articles about spiralling rates of cancers and birth defects in
Iraq - as well as birth defects in babies born to US troops who've served in Iraq and Afghanistan

In Basra, doctors believe the time lag between the gulf war and the beginning of the
trend is because of the depleted uranium's "incubation" period of several years. They
cite a similar postwar delay in Japan after the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.

Please note that we are not responsible for the content of any external sites.

Seattlepi

Global Research

Cambridge Clarion

American Free Press

xs4all

 

 

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'MASSACRE IN HADITHA'   

 After 'Massacre in Korea' - by Pablo Picasso
Acrylic on canvas
30"w x 20"h

November 19th 2005   -- Witnesses to the slaying of 24 Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marines
in the western town of Haditha say the Americans shot men, women and children at
close range in retaliation for the death of a Marine lance corporal in a roadside bombing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'THE PRICE OF DEMOCRACY'    Watercolour 11.5"w x 8.5"h

 

 

 

 

 

Originally painted in 2004 on the anniversary of the twin towers attack, then painted again with updated figures in 2007. 

Tragically, while George Bush's 'War Against Terror' continued to rage, this painting
could be updated year after year. The number of deaths made it increasingly difficult
to scale. 

 

 

 

 

'SHOE' 8" x 8" Acrylic Shoes stand out as defining and poignant objects left behind after a tragic event...whether it's an earthquake, a traffic accident or a bombing. They lay scattered in the rubble or amongst the blood stains, for some reason remaining intact when everything else is shredded and torn. We are somehow drawn to imagining the person who stood in them hours before…the shoe tells a story of its own.

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"FREEDOM'S UNTIDY" - Donald Rumsfeld

 

Detail:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diptych
Acrylic and oil on canvas
12" x 30"     20" x 30"

The famous 2003 quote comes from Donald Rumsfeld when asked about the
uncontrollable looting in Iraq. He also went on to eloquently say: "stuff happens".

He is indeed the man who spawned a thousand bumper stickers.

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'SIDESHOW' 12" X 12" Mixed media, sculptured heads dolls' bodies in glass-fronted display cabinet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iraqi women - especially in Baghdad - are now effectively prisoners. The incidents of abduction, kidnapping, rapes and murders are now at an all-time high. Children are kept home from school and the elderly are facing starvation and sickness, as medical and food aid is increasingly scarce due to the security situation. All these women can do is press their hands and faces up against their windows and stare out of their cages, praying for an end to the nightmare. The freedom and liberation they'd been promised now seems like a distant dream. In my portrayal, the women had optimistically dressed in their finery, expecting the long-awaited party to begin. However the party clothes are shrouded and dulled beneath a body veil. The women must cover themselves with scarves and jackets to even step outside their houses (a recent development), or else face violent retribution. The stitched-up mouths represents the silencing of their voices - nobody wants to hear about their plight. I called this piece 'Sideshow' because there is something of the old Wild West about the Yankees in Iraq (and of course, they were led into this war by the ultimate cowboy). It also refers to the way in which we reduce abhorrent situations to the status of light entertainment - Iraq has become just another TV drama. Our politicians continue to watch these events unfurl, vacantly and repetitively condemning the so-called 'terrorists' when they themselves are the biggest terrorists of all.

 

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'EYESORE EXCLUSION ZONE'
Watercolour and mixed media on paper

                   

  

For the last few years - and no doubt much to his annoyance, Tony Blair has had
to drive past Brian Haw protesting outside the seat of democracy. Eventually Brian's
graphic photographs of dead Iraqi children took their toll on our genteel Prime Minister.

Rather than stop the killing of innocent Iraqi civilians, the government's solution was to
pass the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 in an attempt to get Brian
removed from Parliament Square. Brian's right to protest was upheld, albeit in a
diminished and restricted area. Peter Hain once labelled Brian's Peace Camp as "an eyesore", but in spite of the mighty Whitehall machine, Brian's famous hat - for the
time being anyway, still reigns supreme in the Square.

 

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CLUSTER BOMB JEWELLERY
Small ceramic replicas of KB-1 cluster munitions as necklace and earrings

(As a result of receiving several requests for bespoke jewellery, I have produced
a small amount of unique, custom-made earrings and necklaces.
Please click here to view the jewellery section)

                  

   

Background
I have always been intrigued by the fact that a group of designers must sit in a board
room somewhere and decide what a cluster bomblet should look like. One can only
guess at the conversation: "I'd prefer it in brushed aluminium with a hint of magenta…"

One of the aims of these objects is to attract people's attention when they fail to explode, hence mimicking the shape of drinks cans, fruit, food parcels or even pens. When I
showed a selection of cluster bomb images to a seven year old recently, she thought
they looked like perfume bottles. Why stop there? With jewellery, the cluster bomb
designers could take their creations a step further…pretty, shiny objects of desire which
will attract even more innocent civilians.

 

 

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END OF THE AFFAIR
12" Diameter
Acrylic on canvas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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