Bad Religion First Run

I stopped by our local Habitat for Humanity Restore this weekend in Collinsville and picked up what I think is a 1970's circa sky light. The backing glass is a unique amber color with a pattern of raised circles. After wrestling with the glass (and cutting myself several times) I made some adjustments and have a medium that I think will make a great backdrop for this piece. My son, Benjamin, helped do the print in white on the interior of the clear glass front of the box. I am extremely excited about the potential!

My goal with this concept "Bad Religion" is not an anti-American protest, but to challenge the idea that the answer to the world's problems is the gospel of America. Liberty is great, freedom is imperative, but ultimately even the American system is flawed. The idea that we need to evangelize the world and make converts of all nations into new "Americas" is what the title is trying to convey, Bad Religion.

I drew from my Catholic upbringing to portray the Statue of Liberty and Uncle Sam as the Madonna and Child, which is how we seem to try to convey our American system to the world. My goal is to finish this piece with some gold guilding and scarlet and purple accents to contrast the amber backing glass.