Skeletons in the Closet

IB HL Art Portfolio
2013-2014

Lost Cosmonauts

Acrylic on cardboard
28” x 30” 
2013

This work was inspired by the Lost Cosmonauts conspiracy theory- the idea that several unlucky astronauts were lost in space and their fate was covered up by the Soviet government.

Vril Society

Acrylic, gesso, and ink wash on  cardboard
30” x 24”
2013

This piece of my IB HL Art concentration was inspired by the Vril Society.  This is a society of superior beings who live under our feet and power their world with liquid energy- and are rumored to be the source behind the Nazi’s power in WWII. This conspiracy theory came directly from Bulwer Lynton’s novel The Coming Race.

Montauk Project

Acrylic, tracing paper, and foil on cardboard
27” x 32”
2013

Another piece in the “Skeletons in the Closet” series delves into the dark secrets of the United States’ Montauk Project- an experiment in mind control that may have opened a rift between dimensions.

Information for this conspiracy theory mostly comes from the “repressed memories” of a man named Preston Nichols who claims to have worked at the Montauk Air Force Base and to have traveled through the inter-dimensional portal which was opened during the experiments. 

Templar Treasure

Acrylic, acetate, gel pen, puffy paint, cardstock, tissue paper, and gesso on cardboard
38” x 45”
2013

The fourth piece in the “Skeletons in the Closet” series.  It tells the story of the Templar Knights who collected treasure and may have been executed by the Catholic Church for finding one particular treasure…the Holy Grail.

Project Coast

Acrylic, thread, pins and cardstock on cardboard
38” x 45”
2014

The fifth piece in the “Skeletons in the Closet” series.  This work represents the consequences of HIV/AIDS denialism in South Africa.  The South African President claimed that HIV/AIDS was a conspiracy started by medicine companies.  This position led to thousands of preventable deaths in South Africa.

New World Order

Acrylic, ink and cardstock on cardboard
31” x 35”
2014

The sixth piece in the “Skeletons in the Closet” series.  The New World Order conspiracy is a theory which states that the Illuminati are in control of all the world’s resources, politics and wealth.

Inside Job

Acrylic, newsprint, cardstock, tissue paper and gel transfer on cardboard
45” x 38”
2014

The seventh piece in the “Skeletons in the Closet” series.  This shows possibly the most well known American conspiracy theory which is that the horrific events of September 11, 2001 were planned by the US Government possibly in order to cover up an embezzlement scheme or to start a war with Iraq. 

Armenian Genocide

Acrylic, graphite, charcoal, tracing   paper, and gesso on cardboard
34” x 36”
2013

The eighth piece in the “Skeletons in the Closet” series.  The genocide in Armenia is known as the first modern genocide and the subsequent cover-up by the Ottoman and Turkish governments is what inspired this piece.

Ancient Aliens

Acrylic and gesso on tracing paper, paper and cardboard
24” x 52”
2013

The final piece in the “Skeletons in the Closet” series.  It portrays the conspiracy theory that aliens landed in ancient Egypt and assisted them in their technological advances and are now trying to communicate to modern humans through crop circles.

Every government, society, culture, and person throughout history has had its secrets. I wish to “dig up” the figurative skeletons in the closets of societies, modern and ancient. I explore this idea through conspiracy theories. I have always been fascinated by unsolved mysteries, and in my concentration I reveal confidential information that may or may not be true.

My visual language is of locked doors, safes, and other hiding places- the “closet” portion of my inspiration phrase- and skeletons, for the first part. I also use tons of mixed-media layers in my pieces to parallel the layers of lies that can obscure the truth or shroud the fallacies of the theories themselves.

My first piece uses the vastness of the galaxies and little skeletons in space suits to represent the Lost Cosmonauts- the first brave men in space who mysteriously vanished and were not publicized by Russia’s government. My second piece was inspired by the Vril Society, a theory that came directly from Bulwer Lynton’s novel The Coming Race. This society of superior beings live under our feet and power their world with liquid energy- and are rumored to be the source behind the Nazi’s power in WWII. My third piece delves into the dark secrets of the United States’s Montauk project- an experiment in mind control that may have opened a rift in the space time continuum. The fourth shows templar treasure hidden in the space above a cathedral ceiling, to represent the theory that the catholic church wiped out the templar because they had too much wealth and possibly a magical artifact that threatened the power of the church. Next I journey to South Africa, to investigate the idea that their Project Coast, which attempted to research biological weapons, actually began the spread of the HIV virus, which the South African President denies even exists. Work 6 goes global with the conspiracy that the Illuminati are starting a New World Order. The seventh project returns to the United States, with the conspiracy that the 9/11 attacks were government planned.  Work 8 tells of the Ottoman government’s denial of the Armenian Genocide.  The final work in this series explores the possible connection between ancient monuments alien visitations.