A pig dressed in cowboy boots

Who does actually have the power in society?

Day 11 of the Brooklyn Art Library 28 Day Challenge

Some people give nothing away with their facial expressions. This is often referred to as masking and it is not just autistic people who mask, everyone does it at some point in their lives in order to survive. I watched the BBC documentary 911: Inside the President's War Room recently where George Bush, the president of the USA at the time of the 911 terrorists attacks, was being filmed live as he was informed of the unfolding events.

This photos shows the moment US President George W. Bush had a school reading event interrupted with the news that the first plane had crashed into one of the twin towers in New York, 11 September 2001 (Paul J. Richards - Affiliated Free Press via Getty Images).

As the day progressed and the horror continued, it becomes very much a question of power and his ability to control and contain his anger. This wasn't something I had considered before, that there would be commonalities between George Bush and myself and the masking of rage in relation to power in balances. And that is where I will leave him because I am more concerned with the everyday inequalities associated with power and privilege and the truth behind the our Insta-worthy façade.

All challenges involve learning something about the subject and yourself. It has been so long since I did any drawing and the prompts for the 28 day challenge are hard. Not only do I have to imagine how I'm going to interpret the prompts but also how I'm going to draw them and obviously they need some kind of backstory... and a social political message. I sometimes feel that studying art at University was detrimental to my creative expression and that is most definitely where I contracted the worst strain of perfectionism.

My pig dressed in cowboy boots is based on Napoleon and Mollie from Animal Farm by George Orwell. I studied this book for O level English Literature at school and it had a significant impact on me. I have and always will be on the side of the underdog. I can't stand lies, deceit or the manipulation of others for personal gain. Yet there, lurking everywhere in society is the essence of Napoleon and the cycle of oppression - rebellion - corruption. Like Mollie and her pre-occupation with ribbons and sugar, we are manipulated into believing that fast fashion, diet culture and eternal youth are the key to our happiness. If we could just get those #pinkcowboyboots from Zara trending on TikTok, that thigh gap in denim hot pants and fool people into believing that we are only seventeen, everyone will think we are pretty and love us. Ta dah Utopia, the black becomes white, boss girls rule the world and no one, not even the pig dressed in cowboy boots has been brainwashed into believing that internalised misogyny and the patriarchy weren't what we were dreaming of after all. Our very own Sugarcandy Mountain.