The Hand to Hand Project
2003-Ongoing
"Since March 2003, when the
war in Iraq began, I started a series of paintings in response to the war.
I chose as my material simple cotton gloves and painted a news story each
day about the war directly on to them.
Each glove is a "rosary bead" in a daily witnessing. In
2006, I expanded the project to include over 100 artists as a continuing
community dialog."
- Cecilia Kane website
For my Hand to Hand pieces (August 4 - 8, 2008) I chose to use my own hand as the form for gloves made from water bottle labels. In my contention that water is the basis for more warfare than any other dispute, the material seemed apropos.
The formal script connotes the personal formality of an invitation to a wedding or similar celebration. Printed on weathered parchment and grasped in the hand-forms there is an urgency to each dispatch.
The contrasting elements remind me of the clash of ideals at play in the current wars.
Ragtag Taliban Show Tenacity in Afghanistan, NY Times August 4, 2008
Book Claims White House Forged War Intel, CBS News August 5, 2008
Iraq Parliament Fails to Approve an Election Law, NY Times August 7, 2008
Panel Sentences Bin Laden Driver to a Short Term, NY Times August 8, 2008