In 2010 I began a series of political portraits that focused on Canada's political party leaders. My goal was to raise public awareness of each leader by playfully examining the public persona of that leader in a very satirical way. A way that was uniquely Canadian in flavor. I developed a series of political hockey cards, my "He/She Shoots, They Miss Series". It seems only fitting given the importance of Hockey to Canada's culture and heritage and the fact that many people regard politics as a blood sport in itself. The paintings are quite large and are represented here in a modified, framed and much smaller format to give you a better idea of the traditional hockey card format.
What really surprised me when I created these works, was the accompanying written 'satirical' card backs that I created. In many ways my observations were almost prophetic (i.e. Michael Ignatieff's write up). There are a lot of tongue and cheek references to each leader's individual idiosyncrasies, their political approach and performance - track records.
Political Party Leaders
"He Shoots, He Misses, Justin Trudeau's Hockey Card", completed 2014.
"She Shoots, She Misses, Elizabeth May's Hockey Card", completed 2014.
"He Shoots He Misses, Tom Mulcair's Hockey Card", completed 2014.
"He Shoots He Misses, Gilles Duceppe's Hockey Card", completed 2011.
"He Shoots He Misses, Jack Layton's Hockey Card", completed 2011.
"He Shoots He Misses, Michael Ignatieff's Hockey Card", completed 2010.
"He Shoots He Misses, Stephen Harper's Hockey Card", completed 2010.