During the tumult of 2020, living in Portland, the feelings of fear and uncertainty pervaded the atmosphere. It felt that everyone had a reason to scream, nature included.

- Clinton Work

The summer of 2020 brought out a renewed and empowered focus on civil rights and social justice. The inequalities that claimed innocent lives enraged the population and led to uprisings, protests and riots all around the world. Movements like Black Lives Matter, Native Lives Matter and Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women came sharply into focus, creating an international conversation around the suppression of minority voices. Fishing For Fire touches on these topics (the red hand of the MMIW for example) but the character here is using a Molotov cocktail, symbol of anger and violence, to instead throw a ‘love-bomb’ featuring the word LOVE secretly hidden above the colors of Pride. The transformation of this weapon and the character’s use of the STOP sign symbolize the desire to break the old system by spreading love, understanding and compassion.

- Nathan Germain, Curatorial