Artist Kristin Casaletto of Augusta, Georgia, contributes TOO BIG TO FAIL to the show, an image of the American flag made of locusts suspended in pigmented wax. She remarks, “People assume a large, strong nation-state cannot fail, so some begin to consider self-interest – economics – rather than the good of the whole as the basis for voting. yet history shows the demise of strongholds is conceivable, even probable.” Kristin Casaletto's work often investigates accumulation as a metaphor. In this piece, the nation forms as locusts accumulate. “Locusts are agile and a source of strength; they were sustenance to some Great Plains Native Americans,” she says. “But they are also the age-old symbol of plague-scale destruction. The actions of individual citizens will matter deeply in the coming times.”
Too Big to Fail Locusts on encaustic pane| 18 1/2" X 35"