Untitled (DBI) by Norman McDonald
Medium: Pencil and pen on bond paper
Dimensions: 8.5 x 11
Artist Statement: Thank you kindly for your continuing work to assist us with such excellent opportunities for incarcerated individuals for personal expression. It cannot be overstated how valuable offerings such as this are for those on the "Inside." I have to confess that the theme and overall look are somewhat macabre, but it pretty much reflects my feeling about our retributive "justice" system here in PA, with the feet of a cadaver in the morgue, with a "DBI" numbered toe-tag, chained to a broken clock, mired in barbed wire. I had in mind, the standard practice in PA of serving up significantly longer sentences than other states, for mediocre or even nebulous crimes, as well as having a clearly draconian view of Castle Doctrine, and offering clearly substandard or nonexistent medical and dental care, especially for elderly and long-term incarceration inmates, which means for a lot of us, the clock never moves in a direction other than pointing to our eventual cremation. This combination of effects, as intentionally engineered by "the system," places PA in the company of some of the most barbarous penile systems in modern "developed" societies, (In My Humble Opinion), and to quote the popular musician, David Crosby (CSN&Y), "...and I'm not always very humble!
Image description: Graphite pencil drawing with a shaded pencil background. A pair of feet, toes pointing up, soles facing the viewer. A shackle is attached to one ankle with a chain that leads to a pocket watch, one side of which is smashed, showing the inside gears. Barbed wire drawn in pen circles around the feet. A mortuary tag is tied onto one of the toes, reading “DBI: 07814, CP198437”