Artist Statement

The Hands of Slavery 

Eli Casavant

My art piece is an 8 x 10 canvas with a sliver background, a black hand print, and printed text that says, “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their form” and also “Then why are there 50,000,000 slaves today?”. The first statement is taken directly from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights article number four, and the question is asked because if there is a rule about it, why does it still exist? It is meant to get the viewer to think about the fact that the law is still being broken.

I hope my art piece makes you realize that even though there are rules about human rights worldwide, not all of them are followed. Therefore, it is essential for us to pay attention to the ones that need to be followed.