EAVEN & ELL - 2020

There is a large billboard on the left side of I-71 in Ohio that you can see while traveling south from Columbus to Cincinnati. It simply states ‘HELL IS REAL’. A loaded statement for many reasons, sure, but twelve years of Catholic school has made me numb to that message or anyone trying to preach it. I have always been more concerned with the aesthetic of the text itself. The background is black. The text is white in all capital letters. Except the ‘H’. The H is a red capital letter with a white outline.

I have made the drive fromAkron, OH to Knoxville, TN repeatedly over the past 7 years of my life. It’s pretty much a straight 8 hour shot south, I-71 to I-75. I have passed that sign every time and I cannot stop thinking about the H in HELL. It seems like such a weird choice to make one letter different from the rest. It must mean something.

What in God’s name is that H doing?

The image in my drawings is an altered version of a treasure chest from an old Wario game. I was interested in what the shadow self would covet and find valuable. Where is the line between good and bad? That form now acts as multiple things at once. Maybe it can be the H in HELL.  

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