Modern Inferno: Post-9/11 Paintings
Masami Teraoka
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With the Twin Towers tragedy the American world fell from heaven to hell. The attack created unprecedented ideological, moral, and spiritual chaos, along with physical and mental security issues. Our world became Dante’s Inferno. Morally and spiritually we sought resolution and answers. Each of us struggled. The dark memory of 9/11 continues to cast a shadow, particularly on people who travel. We are reminded of the tragedy each time we go through a security check.Along with 9/11’s colossal collisions, another kind of cultural calamity surfaced—a spiritual crisis as the media exposed Catholic priests caught in child sexual abuse cases. My recent visual narrative work reflects all of these issues. In a larger sense, 9/11 was a warning for Western society. Her cultural values were challenged where sexual ethics, sex abuse issues, and seductive consumerism struggle amid unimaginable and unprecedented chaos.
Weaving news media reality with visionary fantasy in a complex of humor, commentary, line, form, and color is a challenge. I try to focus on current issues articulated on a metaphorical level rather than recreating a mere copy of reality. Each narrative creates a fantastical aesthetic world where human folly and dilemma are expressed in such a way that the beauty and ugliness of the human psyche thrive in the context of a poetic visual statement.
