Law Imposed
“Law- imposed” represents the savage nature of imperialism and the imposition of a dominant culture’s concept of government and justice upon a subordinate culture. The ceramic ceremonial headdress and hemp skirt of the sculpture depict the primitive, violent nature of the oppressor. The weapon, brought back from a tour in Afghanistan, is a late 19th century French rifle from that country’s imperial period. The red, white, and blue ribbon suggests the countries of France, Great Britton and the United States. The WWI “buddy poppies” represent death, the human toll of war. A rusty chain implies a tethered mind imprisoned by the colonial convention that might is always right. The concept for this work came from my reading of the book “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe.