I love America and am happy with my life in California. I live close to mountains and ocean, I’m able to hike and ride waves easily, I’m close to my family and am enjoying art making on a regular basis. I’m able to travel and be with friends. I have enough to eat and am mostly healthy.

But I’m horrified by the destruction of so much of what I love in this country, and I feel personally attacked by the Republicans’ dismantling of government agencies that have long supported me and my community. From the firing of hundreds of thousands of federal workers, to the theft of our personal information in the name of “efficiency,” to the targeting of trans people and people of color—it’s a relentless assault. They pretend to fight antisemitism while bludgeoning free speech and coddling Nazis. The President and his billionaire cronies enrich themselves while sending innocent people to prison—or worse, deporting them—and arresting political opponents. The list goes on, pulled straight from the authoritarian playbook (Project 2025). Almost all of it is illegal and unconstitutional, yet it’s happening anyway.

This piece was my response.

Title: Heart of my Country, 2025
Dimensions: 16″ x 14.25″
Medium: Wool felt, cotton fabric and thread

*I single out Republicans because they are ALL colluding with this. It would take only a few of them to break ranks and stop this debacle.