Every system has its cracks — and every self has its limits.
That’s the heartbeat behind The System and The Self, my latest two-piece series now showing at ArtBeat Gallery in Sacramento, CA (1107 L St.). These works dive into the tug-of-war between what controls us and what we control — how we move through a world built to mold us, and what happens when we finally see the mold for what it is.
Two Paintings, One Conversation
Each painting in this series is its own mirror. One reflects the outside world — the machine, the noise, the illusion of order. The other reflects the inner world — our temptations, our choices, and the fragile space where innocence meets awareness.
Let’s start with The System.
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“Politics As Usual” — The Lie That Learned to Talk
In Politics As Usual, I used acrylic to fracture the childhood story we all know: Pinocchio and his so-called conscience, Jiminy Cricket. But here, they’re not just wooden toys and wise bugs. They’re avatars of America — torn, divided, and trapped under the stripes and stars of the flag that frames them.
Pinocchio, once a puppet who dreamed of being “real,” now stands as the face of modern politics — where authenticity gets traded for applause, and truth bends as easily as a campaign promise. His splintered form represents how systems built on lies eventually break under their own weight. The American Flag behind him isn’t waving — it’s watching. It looms like a stage curtain hiding the strings.
And then there’s Jiminy Cricket — the voice of conscience, cracked and lost in the noise. His presence reminds us that morality still exists in the system, but it’s faint, fighting to be heard over the static. Together, these two characters become symbols of how “the system” operates: it sells dreams, teaches obedience, and rewards performance over truth.
This piece isn’t just political — it’s personal. It’s about the systems we all subscribe to, knowingly or not. From social hierarchies to cultural expectations, Politics As Usual asks: who’s really pulling your strings?
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“Fall of Man (EDEN)” — When the Self Takes the Bite
On the flip side of the coin lies The Self. In Fall of Man (EDEN), I reimagine Michelangelo’s classical masterpiece through the raw, prehistoric lens of the Flintstones. Fred and Wilma replace Adam and Eve — two cartoon icons of simplicity, excess, and domestic chaos — living in a stone-age world that mirrors our modern one more than we’d like to admit.
The scene captures the split second before everything changes — the moment desire overrides innocence. The original Fall of Man was about disobedience and divine punishment. My version questions whether that fall was really a failure — or a necessary rebellion.
By swapping biblical figures for pop culture ones, I’m showing how the cycle repeats: generation after generation, humanity keeps biting the same apple, chasing the same forbidden knowledge, pretending each era is “different.” Fred and Wilma stand as both parody and prophecy — proof that the more things evolve, the more our core instincts stay the same.
The colors in this piece are deliberate — bold, warm, alive — because The Self isn’t clean or divine. It’s messy. It’s emotional. It’s human.
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The Juxtaposition — Order vs. Chaos, System vs. Soul
Together, Politics As Usual and Fall of Man (EDEN) create a visual conversation. One lives in structure, the other in instinct. One wears a suit, the other a fig leaf. Yet both are caught in loops that define what it means to be alive in this modern world.
In The System, the characters are products of propaganda — they represent how our environments shape our truths. In The Self, the characters are victims of curiosity — they show how our truths shape our environments. The contrast isn’t just stylistic; it’s spiritual.
When placed side by side, you can feel the tension — the push and pull between societal control and personal freedom, between being told what’s right and feeling what’s right. The cracks in Pinocchio’s face meet the fruit in Fred’s hand — both marks of rebellion, both results of wanting more than what the system allows.
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The Correlation — Where The System Meets The Self
The truth is, The System and The Self aren’t enemies — they’re reflections of one another. The system is built by selves; the selves are shaped by systems. It’s a loop we can’t escape, but one we can at least learn to see clearly.
When you recognize the system within you — the programming, the expectations, the fears — that’s when you start writing your own code. That’s when the self becomes free.
This collection is about that exact moment — when you stop moving on autopilot and start questioning why you move at all.
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Both paintings — Politics As Usual and Fall of Man (EDEN) — can be seen in person at ArtBeat Gallery, 1107 L St., Sacramento, CA, where the conversation between system and self continues on canvas.
And for those who want to bring that reflection home, prints of both pieces are available now at www.stimuleyearts.com.
Because whether you’re living inside The System or wrestling with The Self, art’s job is the same — to hold up a mirror and make you look twice.
Discover The System and The Self Collection here
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