New O'Neill Level Three Gallery Exhibit: Minos

Cultures all around the world and in different times have strived for the establishment of stability and order. In this attempt those who do not fit into the status quo, those deemed as different, are consigned and silenced. Myths usually portray them as monsters, as the Greek myth of the Minotaur can attest to. The Minotaur’s alienation is rooted in the fact that he is reviled by others. To be a monster is not the essence of the Minotaur’s being; rather, it is imposed upon him by the mainstream.

This series of drawings juxtapose the conventional and the grotesque; Minotaur characters navigate familiar settings. By featuring the instability and disorder implicit in the monster concept, I introduce an inquiry into societal paradigms. This entails a consideration through contrast of a reality that embraces what is different at cultural, political, racial, economic, and sexual levels.

Professor Sammy Chong, of the Art, Art History, and Film Department