Series: The Chocolate Bar Saints (Oil on panel, gold chocolate bar foil)
Celebrity culture and our obsession with it dominate modern life. Contemporary teenagers express the desire to be famous when talking about future vocations. This is a time when celebrity is king and those in the role are armed with excess money and caught in its resulting power. With all this privilege why are these individuals not outstanding members of our society? Why are they not our moral gauges? Have they improved humanity? Science? Our thinking? Have they made great discoveries or acted out great deeds?
Who were the past generations’ and past centuries’ celebrities? Do we in our celebrity culture crave more substance in the role models? This work refocuses on the saints of the past. Some were martyred for their beliefs, others gave up all wealth to live humbly or serve others and most allowed moral character to dominate their life choices. As the author Jeanette Winterson puts it, "in a world that has become instrumental and utilitarian, the symbol {of a saint] stands as the challenge of love to the arrogance of power and the delusions of wealth.”
