UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I use familiar visual signs to explore materials, process and identity issues.

This series is based on my own documentary photographs of prize-winning rabbits from the Virginia State Fair. As usual, in the transition from photographs to drawings, the rabbits have been freed of their cages, and the gesture of the hand-drawn mark takes precedence over photographic representation. “Who doesn’t like a rabbit?” I have asked, knowing full well that there are those who would be put off by these images.

I’ve incorporated French words and phrases into the work, using Google translator to translate lyrics from English show tunes and pop songs into French, a language I neither speak nor understand. As an installation, the images along with the text take on a narrative structure. There may be humor, but there is no irony intended.

- Michael A. Pierce, April 2011

Quirk Gallery, Richmond, VA