"Dragonfly" 2001
Acrylic on canvas 16" x 20 "

The dragonfly is a national emblem of Japan, which is sometimes called Akitsushima (the Dragonfly Island). Here, a dragonfly sits pinned in place in a bed of cotton, a captured specimen. It is at once prevented from taking its natural course (which would eventually lead to natural death) and preserved as an artifact of its natural glory. Japan, once a country with a goal of world domination, was similarly crippled following the SecondWorld War .