Artist Statement

Innocence

Cole Mailloux 

This painting was painted on a 20" x 24" canvas using black and gold acrylic paint. It is painted with large brushstrokes of both colors.

The main idea behind this artwork is to represent the ropes that hold down the wrongfully convicted who have to suffer the repercussions of going to prison. This addresses the social justice issue: "You're always innocent until proven guilty." This is a very complex issue because innocent people shouldn't go to prison, but they sometimes do due to the fact that not enough information is gathered or they don't have appropriate representation in courts. An example of this is Malcolm Alexander, who was sent to prison due to insufficient information being assembled at the crime scene, and because of it, he spent nearly 38 years in prison. 

The message I am attempting to convey is that even if you are not at all guilty, you can still go to prison. Innocent people should not have to go to jail, but they still do. The reason for this is a systemic failure; if this was an easy fix, it would have already been fixed. I hope that people will look at this piece and just take a second to think about our justice system.