60x68 acrylic, oil stick, charcoal, pastel on raw, unstretched canvas, hung from wood and chainsaw chain
The Purge was made in the wake of the 2024 election, just days after the new administration was announced. As a way to expel the visceral feelings from her body after the announcement, Ali used her arms and legs — instead of paintbrushes — to apply and move the paint around the canvas. The title, The Purge, was a foreshadowing of the thousands of federal employees who lost their jobs in the wake of the new presidency. Ali was one of the federal workers working for the US Agency for International Development, and lost her job in the early days of the new administration. The painting is hung with chainsaw chain, which is meant to symbolize the infamous photo of Elon musk with a chainsaw and public statement saying that he and his Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, “spent the weekend feeding USAID to the wood chipper”.
60x68 acrylic, oil stick, charcoal, pastel on raw, unstretched canvas, hung from wood and chainsaw chain
The Purge was made in the wake of the 2024 election, just days after the new administration was announced. As a way to expel the visceral feelings from her body after the announcement, Ali used her arms and legs — instead of paintbrushes — to apply and move the paint around the canvas. The title, The Purge, was a foreshadowing of the thousands of federal employees who lost their jobs in the wake of the new presidency. Ali was one of the federal workers working for the US Agency for International Development, and lost her job in the early days of the new administration. The painting is hung with chainsaw chain, which is meant to symbolize the infamous photo of Elon musk with a chainsaw and public statement saying that he and his Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, “spent the weekend feeding USAID to the wood chipper”.
