Karen Fiorito, Escondido, CA based artist with “Who Would Jesus Shoot?” 2019, Digital art, 16 x 20 in “Deadlocked and Loaded”. With the events of this past week with the shooting of the Asian women in Atlanta, it brought to mind our strange puritanical culture. I’m still furious that the Chief of Police brushed off the shooting by Robert Aaron Long, killing 8 souls, saying “he was having a bad day, he was at the end of his rope”. Alleging a sex addiction, Long is projecting his issues onto these women. So he is tormented by his personal demons so instead of turning inwards or seeking help he goes to the same misogynistic, patriarchal path of blaming it on women. Destroy the temptation. It goes as far back as the story of Eve, written by a man of course—Eve/woman is the downfall of man because she owns her power and he just can’t handle it. Cast the blame onto something else other than your own failings. I just wonder and feel sick over how many people may think these women “deserved” it because they may have been sex workers. Lord, help us all… and this brings me to Karen’s powerful work.
Fiorito says, “Who Would Jesus Shoot? is a digital image of Jesus teaching a small child to shoot a gun. It is a commentary on so-called “Christians” who are adamantly pro-life but who are also pro-death penalty, pro-gun and pro-military (pro-war). Jesus said, “You must love your neighbor as yourself” and “What I command you is to love one another.” He also said, “you know the commandments: you must not kill.” Therefore, if one truly follows the teachings of Jesus, one cannot be pro-death or pro-hate. One must love all people, even his or her enemy.”
Karen Fiorito is an activist, artist and curator residing in California. Her artwork has been exhibited internationally and featured in major publications such as Art in America, Hyperallergic, Art Forum and ArtNews and featured in such books as American Women Artists in Wartime, Paper Politics: Socially Engaged Printmaking Today and The Design of Dissent. Fiorito has received grants from Change, Inc., the Puffin Foundation, the Pollination Project, A Well Fed World and LUSH Cosmetics for her public art projects. Her current public billboard project, Got Drought? has been touring the U.S. since 2015 (gotdrought.info). She is also noted for her controversial Trumpocalypse billboard in downtown Phoenix (2017) which gained international media attention.
She holds a M.F.A. from Arizona State University and a B.F.A. form the University of the Arts (Philadelphia) and is on the Board of the Los Angeles Printmaking Society. She has curated many art exhibitions, including Evolution/Revolution: The Interconnectedness of All Beings (2011), and Indivisible: United We Stand, Divided We Fall (2020).
Learn more at: https://karenfiorito.wixsite.com/buddhacat and @karenfiorito
