It is too raw, too soon to talk about gun violence for somebody, somewhere in the U.S. Every. Single. Damned. Day.
The tattered fabric is a calendar of violence. Of Agony. Of pain. Of shame. Each burned hole is a mass shooting incident (what a benign word) in 2017. Between the tattered strips, one can catch a glimpse of other people going about their daily lives.
I marked every mass shooting on my 2017 pocket planner. Going through the months, I couldn't help but sigh with relief on the days when no mass shooting occurred. The numbers were transcribed to the fabric by making dots with a red felt tip pen. Reviewing my calendar, month by month, I remembered various events through the year; days I spent with family or friends, or doing interesting things, while somewhere in my own country, others were fearful, or grieving, or dying. I held one hand behind the fabric to mark on it; by day 365 my fingers looked bloody.
The piece was completed on Feb. 14, 2018, the day of the Parkland Florida school shooting that left 17 dead, most of them students, our children. Another slaughter of the innocents. Once again, unspeakable horror. Once again, life is too raw. Yet again, gun violence has affected our lives.
Thoughts and prayers are not enough.
When is the right time to have the talk? When is the right time to take action? When will we move beyond thoughts and prayers? My children were in grade school and middle school when the Columbine shooting happened. It’s too late for their generation Will it be too late for my newborn grandchild?
Seems like every day now, I wake up thinking things couldn't get any worse in our country. Then the day happens, and it always does. Every day, something else happens. There are no marches where I live. I don't have the means for large political donations. The petitions in my inbox are endless; I sign as many as I can, and try not to feel guilty about the rest. So I make art. And enter my art in shows in the hope for a wider audience. If I can make someone look and engage in critical thinking, it is a small difference in the world.
Statistics and definition of mass shooting are courtesy of www.GunViolenceArchive.org. Any transcription errors are my own.