An Inexhaustive Study of Power with Laurel Roth Hope
In Diaz Hope’s triptych, We Are Special (2018 – 19), the official Presidential portraits of Barack Obama and Donald Trump are rendered in photo gel capsules, their images ensconced in ornate-gold frames that bookend a central panel: a framed mirror. In referencing the ostentatious display of political portraiture, the work encourages reflection on how visual cultures reify authority, while also asking viewers to question their personal relationship to ongoing debates around access to healthcare, and whether it is a universal right or an earned privilege. By placing the mirror between the portraits of Obama and Trump, Diaz Hope suggests that these debates require personal reflection by individuals, rather than blind adherence to partisan politics. Diaz Hope references a Mr. Rogers record that influenced him as child, You Are Special, that had an mylar mirror on the album cover.