OPEN WATER
Excess Pharmaceuticals
Artwork: Val Kropiwnicki
“Fat Pocket Cay.324.VKS”
36” x 48” oil on canvas
Chinese calligraphy:
Left: “Chemical Cash Cow”
Right: “Stop Pissing on the Faces of Fishes”
I tell my students that making art is like getting in a fight. This is the story of one such fight. On one level, I won. I challenged myself to paint with a degree of realism, I learned some chemistry, and I made something that says something I feel is worth hearing. On another level, it’s not that I lost—it’s more that I now understand I’m locked into what seems to be a losing battle.
OK, here we go.
In this corner, weighing in at a stout $1.6 trillion, with a compound annual growth rate of 6.11 percent during the forecast period from 2024 to 2033: your trusty blue pill, your pain-free living, your happy day—from corporate headquarters—it’s Big Pharma!
And in this corner, weighing in at 170 pounds, with 3,345 Instagram followers, a trusty JVise and a conscience—from Branford, CT—it’s Val Kropiwnicki!