Eggs Benedict- Latex condom embroidery on steel mesh, wood, plexiglass, 83”x 60”x 14”

In 2009, over breakfast, I heard a news story on the radio that would become the impetus for this piece. The Lancet medical journal was calling upon Pope Benedict to retract comments he had made when traveling to Africa, saying that anything less would be an immense disservice to the general public and health advocates fighting to contain HIV/AIDS. In the following weeks, no retraction was given.

The translated statement from the Pope that The Lancet and many in the medical community were reacting to stated that prophylactics would increase the AIDS epidemic in Africa and offered self-denial as the remedy. It reads as follows:

“I would say that this problem of AIDS cannot be overcome merely with money, necessary though it is. If there is no human dimension, if Africans do not help, the problem cannot be overcome by the distribution of prophylactics: on the contrary, they increase it. The solution must have two elements: firstly, bringing out the human dimension of sexuality, that is to say a spiritual and human renewal that would bring with it a new way of behaving towards others, and secondly, true friendship offered above all to those who are suffering, a willingness to make sacrifices and to practice self-denial, to be alongside the suffering.”

In 2010, I listened again as the Pope engaged the condom debate, this time stating that encouraging condom use among prostitutes, with the intention of reducing the risk of HIV infection, may be an indication that the prostitute is intending to reduce the evil connected with his or her immoral activity. Each time a new message from the Pope hit the airwaves, I became increasingly more perplexed. I felt I had to do something.

Eggs Benedict exists because I believe it is my responsibility as an able-bodied person living in our current cultural climate to incite further discussion about the direction our leaders point us in. As an artist, my thoughts manifest in my artwork best. It’s a pretty simple relationship.

During the production of this piece I made many intentional choices; from selecting a cheerful moment from the Pope’s earlier years in the Vatican to choosing a festive color palette, to putting great care into making the portrait—all to ensure that both the subject matter and the materials were being celebrated in the midst of the questions that their combination raises. I made these choices because it is important to me that this piece opens more doors than it closes. Great art incites conversation, and I believe this piece is working. I do not see this piece as an attack on the Catholic Church, rather, I see it as an emblem of the AIDS epidemic that speaks directly to the role of world leaders in protecting public health.