Mixed media on fiberglass canvas (magazine-print collage and acrylics), early 1980s.
Inspired by a mid-1950s illustrated chiropractic manual, this early-1980s series asks a simple, uneasy question: what do we let people do to our bodies when they wear authority—by title, by uniform, or by both?
Fragments of torsos, arrows, and instruction-book slogans are collaged from magazines and overpainted in acrylic on fiberglass canvas. The worked, abraded surfaces feel part clinic, part billboard, part peeling city wall—as if the image itself has been “adjusted.” Hands hover. Necks tilt. Spines are more implied than shown. The familiar language of care becomes choreography: align, press, correct.
The works balance healing and control, trust and submission. Mid-century optimism—“the body can be fixed”—meets a modern awareness that power often hides in helping gestures. You’re invited to check your own posture toward authority: where does care end and command begin?