Exorcising Demons

Sticks and Stones
(c) Francine Russelle, 2007
5" x 7" x 1", Mixed Media in mint tins

I found a photo of myself taken sometime before age two. It was taken on the beach in Venice, California. It's the only photo with both my parents that I've ever seen; I have no clear memories which pre-date the photo nor do I remember the day it was taken.

This was a real case of exorcising demons. Found chicken bones, nails, barbed wire, rocks, milagros, broken glass and other assorted ephemera. Scanned the faded black and white photo, blew it up and cropped out my mother and father, then printed it in sepia tone. Wired the two tins together, side by side, and added text, paint and tea bags.

Used old fashioned typewriter font to write: Sticks and stones and broken bones, from these I can recover. Nasty names and cruelty games, these scars can last forever.