Thematic Work from 2006
JD Jarvis
Sin Testigos

JD Jarvis completed this thematic image on Easter Sunday, 2006. He lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico, not far from the Mexican border. "Sin Testigos" means No Witnesses. He says it could also bear the sub-title "Guernica Meets Juarez." He writes:

"As you may know there has been a lot of media attention given lately to the Juarez murders (especially in the region in which I live). Basically, over four hundred women (most of them employees at various maquiladoras located in Juarez, Mexico) have been murdered in just the last ten years. There have been no arrests and apparently no witnesses. Graft is a given. The, often mutilated bodies, are usually discovered in the junk ("yonke") yards that surround the city.

"The fact that I would wind up doing a piece of art that is so literally about this highly charged political situation is a big surprise to me. It began, as always, with my exploring some "technique" and allowing my subconscious to freely associate with the image as it develops. When the composition of the work began to resemble the layout of Picasso's Guernica, other things began to click into place. I am left with a rather disquieting image that I would like to claim is not part of myself, but is mine none the less.

"I don't know if I have ever done a work that makes me as uneasy as this one does. I am not sure if this is a strength or a flaw. Will it be seen as pandering or politics or art, or what?"

Visit exhibit of 16 Jarvis images from 2008