A Bucket of Pop! Joy

Contrasts the simplicity of the past with the excess of today. Based on a black-and-white vintage photo of children living a modest, even impoverished life, the painting adds a layer to their world in full color—where their simple joys are replaced with a bucket overflowing with Pop dolls, symbols of today’s mass-produced entertainment and abundance. The artist’s signature, cleverly borrowed from the well-known Pop! logo, reinforces the theme of consumer culture’s deep imprint on childhood and happiness and the message about how brands frequently borrow and repurpose existing assets, reshaping culture and identity in the process.