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Daniel Staples
DANIEL STAPLES
The Dark Ages
Ink on Bristol board
11" x 17" each
$400
Email museum@westmont.edu for purchasing inquiries
The past year has been a time of bizarre developments, manifesting every day, where normal life feels like a distant memory. It is not difficult to see the problems we have been facing recently as something akin to fiction. Rising death tolls, due to an omnipresent virus and the resultant panic from this crisis, are prevalent in our lives today, echoing past diseases throughout history. Despite feeling more equipped today, humanity still finds itself unprepared to handle a worldwide pandemic of this capacity. The image of the plague doctor originated during previous attempts made by society to manage the weakness of our own biology: a masked figure going to extreme lengths to give itself protection against an invisible force. In this narrative, no one knows how to deal with the current state of the world, and, ultimately, individuals find themselves in utter chaos.
The story of a society attempting to hold the world together while everything is falling apart is especially relatable at this time. I seek to provide this world with the gritty, fantastical style it conceptually warrants by constructing the story through stark black and white shapes. In a world that has succumbed to confusion, the uniformity of opaque ink fittingly embodies this allegory. Everyone is struggling to deal with the ever-evolving crises that seem to have no end in sight, but at this point in history, we know that our struggles are shared across the globe. The story ends on an uncertain note, showing the resultant tragedy of our times despite our good intentions or valiant efforts to fix the world and come together amidst the ruin.
-Daniel Staples
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