A sculptural allegory about money in American politics

 Allegory is a tool for simplifying complicated concepts to make them more easily understood. It is used by both writers and visual artists. I use the device in my latest sculpture to illuminate the problems of campaign money in political elections.

An allegory expresses a moral or political truth about humanity through objects that stand for something else. An allegorical painting or sculpture tells two stories at once: the surface narrative and the underlying idea. George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a literary allegory. The farmyard characters represent political figures, international leaders, and the populace. It tells the story of the rise of an autocratic pig who manipulates barnyard animals. The underlying narrative is the political story of Stalin and the Russian Revolution.

Nineteenth century American painter Thomas Cole’s four-painting work The Voyage of Life: Childhood, Youth, Manhood and Old Age is allegory about America.

The paintings show a river journey through time depicting childhood innocence, youthful striving, the human attempt to control fate, and the discovery of eternal life with the Divine. The paintings may also be read as the story of America in an age of westward expansion and industrialization. The overconfident young man in the paintings tries to control his fate, just as the young United States was doing. Cole was apparently warning that the young country’s bold growth could have disastrous consequences.

My latest sculpture is an allegory about the problems inherent in large political campaign contributions. The predator great horned owl represents the wealthy donor who funds the election campaign of the pigeon candidate. The owl’s wings are tipped with money which the great bird doles out in to the pigeon below. The features on the owl’s face are drawn with corporate emblems from businesses that make large campaign contributions. Such industries can be readily identified from lists compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics on OpenSecrets.org.

The pigeon, sitting in the window of the legislative chamber, has woven the money into its nest. The setting is a capitol building as referenced by the vintage postcards of state capitols. It could be any one around the country. The pigeon legislator is now dependent on these funds and likely beholden to the owl’s interests. Meek and mute in the face of the owl’s power, the pigeon adopts legislation that favors the owl’s interests, often at the expense of the general populace. The fruits of the legislative session are shown in the books on the bottom shelf, including One Worthless Law, the O.W.L. Act.

Meanwhile, another pigeon legislator, one who is not controlled by the purse strings of the owl, seeks to escape the snare of this financial net. Beak open to sound the alarm, this pigeon carries a message of warning in a backpack.