Money

Money

Does a house provide us shelter and security?

Do our investments ensure that our retirement years will be golden?

Or are they deceptions – Ponzi schemes, perhaps manipulated by forces unseen and outside of our control?

My current pieces explore the relationship between money and security. Whether drawing from the imagery of currency or incorporating currency itself they examine the interplay between the faith we place in the money system – both the institutions (banks, financial advisors, and brokerage firms) and the currencies (401(k)s, mutual funds, and mortgages) – and the potential manipulation of the system by others for their own gain. I’ve chosen for one image the classic Monopoly board game house constructed of pennies, and ask that you consider whether a house is a home or whether it is a game piece on some “too big to fail” bank’s Monopoly board – a shelter for the occupants or a mere pittance to the “real” players of the game. A “glitzy” dollar sign beckons the observer but is less than it appears. The Siren’s call of bright lights dissolves to paper and glue. All is not as it appears to be; there is more (and less) than meets the eye.

Caveat emptor.