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The Fruits of Our Labor print was inspired by a couple of things: the genetic modification of fruits and vegetables, and the military industrial complex. A few months ago, Neil Young invited me to check out some of the recording sessions for his forthcoming record “The Monsanto Years.” I was inspired by the songs and Neil’s courage to speak out against corporate greed from Monsanto as well as Chevron, Starbucks, and others. Neil asked if I’d be willing to create art inspired by the themes on the record and so I began thinking about ideas. One of the things I knew was that Monsanto produced Agent Orange for the U.S. government during the Vietnam War. This gave me the idea to use an orange as grenade to portray dangerous fruit literally and metaphorically. You can read about Genetic Modification, one of the things Monsanto does here. I’ve always admired Neil’s environmental activism, so I included his lyric “mother nature on the run” in the print as well. Genetic Modification in essence allows corporations to play god with the food we eat. People deserve the right to know where their food comes from.
The print also addresses the arms industry and the power it wields. The military industrial complex is so large and powerful that it has massive influence over politicians and is funded by billions in taxpayer dollars. Are these the fruits of our dollars and industries that we want? I spoke about my issues with U.S. military spending when I released my “Imperial Glory” print
Thanks for caring.
-Shepard
