The Moon Is Down

Sarah Emerson

The Moon Is Down is a title inspired by the role of John Steinbeck’s novel of the same name, a book used as one of the most successful pieces of American propaganda during WWII. In my work I have focused on the idea of a civilization in decay and the beauty and revenge within our natural environment. The viewer can stand as witness to an enlarged scale of small things, a swarm of locusts, puffy explosions, and a cowering girl. We are left to accept our own ambiguity as witness to a strange and familiar scene; what may lurk in the trees, bubbles or bullet holes, what is that red glow in the distance? In our current state what Eden is attainable?

Additional support provided by Colorchrome, the Puffin Foundation and Jesse Cregar.