Bloodlines

Kimberly Hahn, Bloodlines, 2011, Paint, pastel, cotton fabric, thread, and ribbon, 92 ½ x 109 x 54 in.

Kimberly Hahn, Bloodlines, 2011, Paint, pastel, cotton fabric, thread, and ribbon, 92 ½ x 109 x 54 in.

Bloodlines addresses Santa Barbara's sold image, a willingly accepted paradisiacal label, in the form of a Brechtian Verfremdungseffekt*-inspired whitewash facade punctured by red ribbons. Marking gang clashes at which blood was spilled and emanating from a chalkboard-style, gang turf territorial map; the bloodlines reveal the facade as charade. The artwork engenders questions about paradise as an ideal and reality's pale imitation, the sale and inherent maintenance of an image, ownership and control of land, and legacy shaped by our choices and actions.

*estrangement effect