Gwyneth Febus
El Salvador Prison
Prompt: The assignment, Anatomy Multiples, required we select a part of the figure to study, in my case, the shoulder/ clavicle region. After studying the bones and musculature of that area of the body, we were to create a cohesive piece utilizing our skills.
Four figures stand, each progressively more hunched over, folding in on themselves. The arm of a prison guard holds a gun, threatening them. These people are prisoners of ELCOT, El Salvador’s Mega Prison. Here, there is no contact to the outside world, no time outside, and no rehabilitation programs. Here, these people have been taken to die.
It feels as if horrible stories on the news about horrible things being done to people in and out of this country never end. Somedays, I read the news and think the world must be ending. People are scared, but also apathetic. Many of my more privileged peers seem not to want to confront the truth of what is going on, how innocent people are being inhumanely treated, dehumanized, and genocided, and will continue to be, unless we do something about it. As an artist, the images I choose to create and recreate matter and can lead to powerful change.
With this piece, my goal was to show the humanity of these people and to show an important issue I care about. I used a red underpainting with green on top to bring about a gruesome, fleshy feel. I let the tattoos stand out, as they are an important part of the story of how these people ended up here. I gave special attention to the hunch of the shoulders, utilizing the skills I learned from my studies of this part of the body.
In the end, I feel this piece is important, and I am proud of what I have created. I hope it inspires emotion and subsequent political action in viewers.
