Sheeple #4, 2021 by Carolyn Letvin

After 20 years, I’m still using sheep as a major source of my imagery. Sheep are often one of the first images we see in our lives. Think of all the nursery rhymes and children’s stories that involve or are about sheep. One of my first memories is painted wooden cut-outs of Little Bo Peep and her sheep that my mother had hanging above my crib. To this day I can envision that room and how that “art” was hung. I believe that that formative vision is why these alluring creatures became my muse.

Sheep have a political connotation because they are easily herded and follow readily. With this in mind, I have created my first and probably only political statement with some of my sheep paintings. By collaging Mass. Pike tickets and putting a sheep on top, I am bluntly and blatantly conveying that people repeatedly turn to government to find solutions without question, then follow the state’s edicts like sheep, or “sheeple,” a term used in current topical journalism.

Medium
Painting

Condition
Pristine

Signature
Hand-signed by artist

Certificate of authenticity
Included (issued by gallery)

Frame
Not included

Series
Ruminations on a Ruminant