Darrell Mastrigt

Artist's Statement

Imagine being in a place that from the time you wake up in the morning until the second you fall asleep at night, constant reminders show you how worthless you are and how meaningless your life has been. You are still as alive as ever yet the outside world sees you as a non-person who is without a voice, without the right to feel, to love, to even dream of the future. Now imagine it is for a crime you didn't commit.
           
Could you do it for twenty years? For me, that's what Life in Pennsylvania has meant so far. Painting allows me to search inward and share with others. Painting vividly portrays beauty and emotional content, provokes thought and dialogue, and allows sharing of life without requiring physical proximity to the one you are sharing with. For the innocent that is part of our salvation and sanity.
           
American Contrast is a reminder of how new and old are always vying for attention and dominance. America represents the best of both worlds, thriving in harmony, architecture, values, ideals and people. No matter how tall the new grows it can never eradicate the need to remember the dignity, grace and wisdom of the old.
           
Escape has an everyday aesthetic satisfaction that many walk by daily without reaction or appreciation. However, it also shows a practical need for alternatives. The prison industrial complex has created a house with no exits or escape. The Innocence Project says that 10% of prisoners are actually innocent. Our criminal system of justice refuses to address new evidence, provides ineffective representation for the poor, permits almost no avenues for mercy, compassion or relief for the innocent. Alternatives to this deadly trap are well overdue.
           
I'm honored that Art for Justice has allowed me to be part of this show and hope you enjoy your own experience in these paintings. Thank you for your interest and taking the time to read these words. To find out more about the thousands of innocent prisoners in American prisons, visit InnocenceDenied.org, or write to Innocence Denied Association, PO Box 18477, Pittsburg, PA 15236.

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