Bad boys, 2025
Etching, Edition 7 of 30
46,5 cm x 57 cm
Artist’s Statement
Bad boys depicts a city crumbling under the weight of its guardians. Drawing on the infrastructure of policing and the judicial system, the work imagines an urban landscape fractured by the very institutions entrusted with maintaining order and justice. Buildings stand in states of decay, streets are neglected, and public spaces appear abandoned, creating a cityscape that reflects the consequences of systemic failure. Through this imagined environment, I explore how corruption erodes not only institutions but also the social fabric they are meant to protect.
The work considers the relationship between power and vulnerability, asking viewers to reflect on what happens when those entrusted with public safety become associated with fear, abuse of power, or self-interest. Corruption is presented not as a singular act but as a force that gradually permeates every level of society, weakening trust, accountability, and collective wellbeing. As these foundations deteriorate, their effects become visible in the spaces people inhabit and the communities they rely upon.
The city functions as a metaphor for the nation itself, where physical decay mirrors moral and institutional decline. Crumbling architecture and unstable infrastructure serve as visual reminders of systems that have been compromised from within. At the same time, the absence of people within the landscape suggests the human cost of such failures, evoking feelings of alienation, uncertainty, and neglect.
Through the etched line (abrasive, corroded, incised, and permanent) I seek to echo the enduring scars that systemic corruption leaves on society. The process of printmaking becomes a metaphor for these lasting wounds, recording damage that cannot easily be erased. Bad boys is both a critique of institutional decay and a reflection on its consequences for everyday life.
