Oil and silver gilding. 108″ x 96″. Collection of David Teplitsky.

The cages (& there must be about 20 or 30 of them) were done in protest of the US intervention in El Salvador and Nicaragua.  I saw a picture of the remains of a bus that was attacked by solders on a jungle road.  (a note) I began studying art after departing 101st Airborne in March 28th of 1963.  Had I remained in the army for a month more I would have gone to Viet Nam with my unit with a good chance of injury of death – – but I didn’t, and I ended up like most students at that time protesting the war in Viet Nam.  I also was against the things going on later south of our border.  The bus in the photo was the one that documented the rape of a group of nuns on a jungle road.  On the top of the bus were numerous chicken coups like this lashed to the top for marketing. I saw a cage like that at an antique shop near the DC zoo and brought it to my studio – – to me it was an icon of what was happening south of the border. To me it seems very heavy – – like a great wait of sin!