KERFUFFLE
Kerfuffle is inspired by my connection to three Colorado school shootings - at the STEM school in Highlands Ranch; and at Deer Creek Middle School and Columbine High School, both in Littleton. The series generates beauty through the abstraction of violence - visually and conceptually. The underlying images are of rabbits engaged in territorial battle. By reducing them to simple black silhouettes, and then repeating them in various ways to create attractive patterns, the rabbits and their actions become largely unrecognizable, thus obscuring and sanitizing the underlying theme of attack. The violent act itself, and the viewer's responsibility to acknowledge the act are softened, like a bunny's fluffy tail. The works are graphically interesting arrangements, devoid of emotion and drama. These 'Punching Bunnies' serve as a coded metaphor for gun violence in our schools, allowing artist and viewer to temporarily disconnect from the routine horror and trauma that are our continuing reality.