JAMES MERCER
No
oil on canvas
30 x 40 inches
2019

No

The words “yes” and “no” have a superficial generality to them, but this can be transformed into more complex feelings through repetition. I found a manic humor in reducing a forest, with all its nuance and qualitative complexity, to a series of yeses and nos, hinting at something between resource extraction, gaming, and the funny crudeness of a survival instinct.