The Exploiters

This was from the second show I participated in with my NYC art collective, The Blood Dumpster. The theme was "Disaster Convergence" and was based on the knowledge of in 2004, two sociologists defined seven types of people that will converge at the point of a disaster immediately following the event. These seven types include The Helpers, The Supporters, The Exploiters, The Curious, The Anxious, The Mourners, and The Returners.
Our task, as artists, was the tackle one or more of these types and create a work of art based on it.

I took on the Exploiters and with the help of my writer friend, Sean Clarke, retold the tale of Noah's Arc as the story of our prophet being someone taking advantage of the needy.

If anyone is curious about the story, I'll see about transcribing it into the comments.

This piece was part of a theme of paintings that combined text and figurative representations - a modern twist on the illuminated manuscript. They are all based on common myths found in many religions - this one involving the great flood.

The medium is acrylics on canvas with matte-medium transfers for the text.

My inspiration for the figures was based on staring at ginger roots all day long and that I didn't want it to be a human figure, but something otherworldly, like finding the holy scriptures of another planet's religion.