Portfolio > Original artwork - Matters of Conscience series

In 2008 candidate Obama campaigned on the promise of “Hope and Change.” Before that election his favorability ratings were well above 50 percent. In contrast, both candidates in this year’s presidential election have unfavorable ratings above 50%. This striking shift in the electorate’s perspective is captured in this artwork through a representation of a collective transition from hope to despair. The two bookend figures – Hope and Despair - were appropriated from Evelyn Pickering De Morgan’s 1887 painting entitled Hope in the Prison of Despair.