In the days following the 2024 Presidential election, my mind was reeling. The feeling of betrayal was far worse this time than the 1st time Trump was elected. How could this have happened again?
There are times when I feel like I’m going insane when an idea takes hold, and I can’t rest until I draw it out. I spend every waking moment thinking about, or working on, a drawing until it’s done.
“The Land of the…” was one such drawing. It took about a week of constantly thinking about it and sketching it out before I had what felt like a solid idea. It took probably 2 or 3 days to finish drawing the whole thing out.
During that time, I barely worked on my businesses, focusing solely on this drawing. I stayed up late, I got up early, my life was briefly consumed by this drawing. It’s not the first time an idea has consumed me, and it won’t be the last.
That hurricane always subsides after I finish the piece, whether it turns out good or bad. Once it’s done, once it’s out of me, I can go back to my routines, and a better balance between all the tasks I need to do to run a business.
The eagle was the first thing I drew, and it came out how I wanted it to look. The chains were more tedious, and I knew they would be. I drew them blood free first, so I can add the blood on top.
I struggled to draw the hate symbols. It felt like my insides were twisting as I researched these hate groups, and made sure the symbols were accurate. They are everything wrong with the US, and humanity.
But that hurricane was still in full force, and it pushed me through the discomfort. I thought about erasing them from a background, so all that would be there was the shadows of the symbols, but ultimately decided that would dilute the message.
So as uncomfortable as it made me, I drew them all out. And then I added the blood. I’ve drawn blood, or ink blots, or some variation of liquid like substances enough that it’s easy to do. Because of the nature of the chains, it took a while to draw all the blood covering the chains, and dripping down.
At first, I didn’t draw anything over the hate symbols. I left them as clear as the eagle. But they felt too glaring, and every time I looked at it, I could feel my stomach churn. When I added in the background, I decided to scribble over top of them to take the edge off.
Does that dilute them, like I was afraid my earlier idea would do? Maybe a bit. But I did my best to still make them clear, without giving them the full attention. I don’t want to glorify the hate, I want to criticize it.
Early Decisions
When I was first choosing which hate groups’ symbols to use, I immediately knew the swastika, but the others took a bit more research.
I quickly chose the Confederate Flag as one as well. People can scream at me all they want about how the Confederate flag wasn’t a symbol of hate, but I’ve studied history, and I’m familiar with the Civil War and it’s aftermath, and I can tell you that it is a symbol of hatred and racism.
Now, yes, the North was just as racist as the South was during the Civil War. The North wanted no parts of a war that would end slavery, with the exception of New England which did view slavery as a moral wrong.
The only reason the Civil War ended slavery was because of the Contraband Act that was created at Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia. It was the bravery of three men, James Townsend, Frank Baker, and Shepherd Mallory, who fled captivity and requested asylum at Fort Monroe, and one union general, who was a better lawyer than a general, Benjamin Butler.
Our history has always been a complicated mess, littered with falsehoods and hatred, and the Confederate Flag was the perfect symbol to embody that.
I then chose the blood stained cross, a symbol of the KKK.
It boggles my mind there are still people who are part of these groups. Our tolerance of everyone has allowed intolerance and racism to flourish.
The last symbol was a lot harder to come up with. At first I thought about using the cross. Most of the hatred directed at me as someone who is LGBTQIA+ has been from Christians. I grew up hearing the hatred spewed by Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.
I’ve had friends say that they “can only preach to someone so many times before you have to give up on them.” I’ve heard hate the sin love the sinner plenty of times in their attempts to be welcoming, which is anything but welcoming. I’ve been called a groomer for being nonbinary, and I’ve been told I should be shot. There are so many incidents where someone who is Christian has decided to target me, or other LGBTQIA+ folks, for their hatred.
Likewise, I have a lot of friends who are Christians, and I know there are a lot of denominations of Christianity that are friendly and welcoming, and not pushing hate. The problem, really, is with Evangelicals.
Evangelicals, along with Nazis, the KKK, the Proud Boys, and every other group that spreads hatred, should be labeled as terrorist organizations. They should not be allowed to operate as churches when they undermine the very fabric of equality, and make people feel unsafe.
So I discounted the standard Christian cross, since I couldn’t find a symbol that represents Evangelicals without representing all Christians.
Instead I went with the Iron Cross, which is a symbol used by Nazis.
I disliked every moment I spent researching these symbols, and drawing them out. They’re gross, and the people that follow these ideologies are the worst of humanity. But once they were drawn, it was done.
Until I went back later and scribbled over them, and then it was done.
What’s in a Name?
I fiddled with the title for a while. I always try to make sure the title conveys any gaps I’m afraid the artwork does not express.
I hope my art is clear, and that the messages I draw are understood by my viewers. But I understand that what people bring to the table is just as important as what an artist has brought to the table.
So the title was the last piece to click into place. The first solid idea I had was to take the line from our national anthem, The Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave. But that was very wordy.
So I shortened it to The Land of the Free, but that still didn’t feel right. I thought about naming it The Land of the Hate, or the Land of the Hatred, but, again, that didn’t quite have the right feeling to it.
I finally decided to name it “The Land of the…” and let the viewer fill in the gaps. That way it can be the land of whatever they decide it is. I think my art and my opinions on it are clear.
A Week to Sanity
So after a week of obsessing over this idea, it was done. I lived and breathed it that entire week. It became an all consuming hurricane violently pulling me in circles. And I know I’m putting off important things, answering customer emails, processing orders, posting on my social media business pages, and the like, to get it done, but sometimes I can’t seem to help it.
In those moments, when I become completely engrossed in an idea like this, I feel like I’m going crazy. And until I can get it drawn, it’ll occupy every waking thought I have. Sometimes the art I’ve created in those moments hasn’t turned out well, but once it’s out, it’s out, and I’m done.
Luckily, this one turned out how I intended. It was therapeutic in a way, in my crazed daze drawing out all of my anger and frustration over the election and the hatred that still permeates the US.
It didn’t fix the problem, it doesn’t erase racism and bigotry from the US, or the world, and it didn’t make me feel any safer, but at least the idea was out.
The US elected a monster, but the world keeps spinning anyway, and we’re all along for the ride whether we want to be or not.