The United Colours of America

Painted as a response to the ongoing racial injustice in the US. The original colours of red, white and blue symbolise colonial domination and violence for me (The US, Britain, France, Belgium). Whilst studying in Cleveland Ohio in 1998 I became more aware of the history of the flag and what it stands for (many different and conflicting values). I grew up with stories of US atrocities and dirty dealing in their foreign affairs such as in Central America and in Vietnam/Cambodia but despite its glaring inequalities America also stands for positive values of democracy, tolerance, fairness in law and equality of opportunity. My flag is inclusive of all colours and looks forward to a time when native Americans will reclaim their rights over the land that was stolen from them in broken treaties and bare faced violence in the 19th century as so brilliantly portrayed in the remarkable Jim Jarmusch film Dead Man from 1995 starring a very young and naive Johnny Depp, a formidable Robert Mitchum, a heartless John Hurt, an adorable Iggy Pop and a jealous Gabriel Byrne. The film has a haunting and hypnotic electric guitar sound track by Neil Young and this feeling is reflected in the pulsating tones in the stripes and stars of my flag. In this sense it’s a kind of hommage to Neil Young’s music and my nostalgia for his 1970s album Harvest.