BARBARA BENISH

This series began during the first ‘war with Iraq’ in the US, when we curated an exhibition to protest US policy. The forms replicate illustrations from our family Bible (xxxxx )that produced images of the ancient Middle East in ‘Biblical times’, ironically showing tools and products used for survival at the time: hides for water bags, clothing, etc. I chose the skin (faux) backgrounds to further bring the sense of touch and human/animal co-habitation to the viewer. And to point out the absurdity of military fatigues in 20th century warfare using botanical and animal camouflage for their fighting costumes. Other skins are silkscreened with historical images of bloody meetings, depicting the era of colonization.