pinti | paintings > 2009

I grew up in Baton Rouge, LA. When I was very little I also believed we lived in a very large thriving city because I could see all of the lights glistening in the night as we drove down the interstate. As I grew older I realized that all of the lights I saw at night, when passing through downtown going to north Baton Rouge, were lights on pipes from our major Exxon plant, many stories tall. I have had a few family members work in the oil industry, including my paternal grandfather at that very exact Exxon plant, and as much as those jobs provide, they have also destroyed much more. Images in this painting represent the sadness, destruction and terror I perceive surrounding the oil industry.