This artwork references reports that two of the kidnapped schoolgirls were “disobedient.” As a punishment, they were brutally raped, tied to trees and left to die.

The artwork is also based on events that happened in Chicago on February 18th, 2015, when Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush was speaking about the Boko Haram. He repeatedly mispronounced the Boko Haram, calling them the “Beaucoup” Haram.  So this artwork incorporates text art that reads “mercy, beaucoup haram”.   Merci is spelled with a y, since the artist did not want to thank the Boko Haram, instead ask them for mercy.  

Jeb Bush is Catholic so the art also alludes to Christianity being under attack by the Boko Haram. The text art resembles the way holes are punched down the side of notebook paper. Imagery shows a birthday candle since at the time, the girls had been missing for one year. The artwork alludes to how we, as Americans, educate ourselves about foreign affairs. 

60” x 44” – mixed media on paper.