For my selfie this week I decided to use one of my favorite foods to eat. I am half Mexican and have a love for tacos. But most importantly, I feel that when prisoners chose their last meals, there was a story for why they decided what they did. Same goes for me, it is not just because they are delicious and flavorful, but because to me they remind me of my Mexican side of the family. This dish reminds me of my family that is still in Mexico and how much I miss them and would love to see them again. I have not seen them since I was 12 years old and therefore for my last meal would love to be reunited again.
In Julie Green’s exhibition, titled Thank God I’m Home, she creates works of art inspired by Lemmerman’s Gallery First Meals. In her exhibition she captures tragic stories by prisoners that were let down by our justice system. Prisoners that were wrongfully convicted and left to be tortured behind bars.
It was quite difficult picking two paintings because each one had such a unique story and meant something different, but the two that captured my attention was titled T-Bone Phone. This specific painted was used to depict a prisoner’s experience coming out from prison and being introduced to all the new technology that was popular. This one stuck out to me because the story behind it just genuinely sucks. When you’re in prison you are already being pulled away from society and to be let free and not even recognize certain things really is upsetting. Do not get me wrong, it is definitely better to be let out than getting sentenced to life, but at the same time it is genuinely confusing for the person. You are taken from society at a specific point in time, so while you are “trapped”, life outside keeps going. It does not wait for you. So, while everything in prison may seem “normal” or as if “life is stopping”, that only applies to you. I cannot imagine being let out and being so out of place. Especially after so many years I feel like I would crumble from all the time that I missed in the real world. Time that I would never be able to get back. Interesting enough, the painting looks like a steak on the phone, which the prisoner had not had in 27 years. But it also looks like it could be a heart with a line through the middle to represent a broken heart.
The second painting that stuck out to me is titled J.B. Burgers. In this piece, the art seems almost child-like/cartoony. I figure the artist did this because Jonathan Barr was fourteen years old at the time of the crime. This painting also stuck out to me because upon reading the description my heart broke. JB was quite literally just starting his life and his entire future got taken away despite the fact that he and the other five boys DNA did not match what was found in the scene. When you look at the piece, the blood represents pain and sadness. Like a cloudy day. Since it was done with watercolor it also gives the effect of fading, aka his future fading away. On the burger bun and in the painting where it says J.B. Burgers, there are flowers. Flowers represent purity, passion, and youth which I think can depict his childhood prior to be taken in. I also think that they are a great representation of fragility and death, used to show how fast his life was taken away.
In Julie Green’s Plates about Death Row article, she states” If you could have seen these things for yourself you might demand that someone put a stop to them. I’m convinced this is a major reason why the state forbids executions to be recorded.” (para 2)
When looking at the pieces I fully understood what she meant because looking at it is hard enough. But, seeing it would be absolutely enraging and I know that millions would be against it or protest to put a stop to it.
“Being able to judge whether strangers are dangerous or not, whether they are to be greeted or ignored, rests on rapid mental calculations that compress observations into reliable clues.” (Finkelstein 107)
I agree with what Finkelstein was saying because our first impression of someone does say a lot, not only based off how they appear but also, I feel like our judgement is a reflection of us as well. A combination of the two.
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