"The Dictator of El Salvador"

ARTIST STATEMENT

I made this art piece because I knew Nayib Bukele would get more power. Whether for the sake of the poster or a feeling of pessimism regarding the future, I have never heard of a dictator being stopped in his tracks by his people. I wanted to know what might or will happen if he stays in office, becoming a dictator. The second and main reason was that he looked like Fred Waterford from the Handmaid's Tale. While unimpressive, it made me want to say that this guy is clearly evil, and that drove me to illustrate my point by creating this piece as a warning that this guy is up to no good. I chose the magazine theme to detail the difference between the now and a possible future. I had decided to make the first magazine torn in half as opposed to simply having a clean-cut because I wanted it to resemble as it were a mask being torn off of either the future or the person who Nayib Bukele is. The history repeats title is referring to what I said before of a populist leader rising only to become a dictator, as well as referring to El Salvador's past of having dictators.

Sinclair Tarbell Steffens is an amateur graphics artist and a person who watches politics closely both at home and abroad. While they are far from being a political or foreign policy expert, they can recognize evil, greed, and corruption very well when they see it, and will call it out using the power of the pen.

​What inspires us to make art typically can be many things such as other people's artworks that we saw or an idea burning in the back of our minds for the longest time. A reason for not being bring art to life is because we never know how to convey the message or we, at the time, felt discouraged . In this case, the story for creating this art piece was simple, and my motivation was unimpressive. When this was being made, I had been working on an essay regarding Nayib Bukele. Before that point, I didn't even know he existed. The first time I had heard of him was when I was on a comedy show. The comedian showed a clip of him, in which it was made clear that he was woefully incompetent as a leader. The clip was when he was on 60 minutes talking about El Salvador's asylum capacity. At the time, no red flags were being set off for me. I just thought of him as another broken gear in the machine–someone who was in office, having a nothing presidency, and would one day fade away into the channels of history.

"The first time I had heard of him was when I was on a comedy show. The comedian showed a clip of him, in which it was made clear that he was woefully incompetent as a leader. The clip was when he was on 60 minutes talking about El Salvador's asylum capacity."​

Sure, Bukele was incompetent. However, nothing in that interview signified that he was some cruel tyrant. It wasn't until I was writing my essay that I found out who he was. Researching him was shocking, the story of how he got elected was one I had seen many times before. The people of a struggling nation are desperate for hope. They want someone who can bring back peace from the tyranny of poverty caused by the wealthy elites. Then, comes a charismatic leader who promises to work for the good of the people. After getting elected, Bukele used his popularity to cut off all checks and balances that would restrain him. He empowered himself and silenced any opposition while enriching the rich and betraying his promise to the poor. I made this art piece because I knew he would get more power, whether for the sake of the poster or a feeling of pessimism regarding the future, as I have never heard of a dictator being stopped in his tracks by his people. I wanted to know what might or will happen if he stays in office, becoming a dictator. The second and main reason was that he looked like Fred Waterford from the Handmaid's Tale.​

"They want someone who can bring back peace from the tyranny of poverty caused by the wealthy elites. Then comes a charismatic leader who promises to work for the good of the people."  ​

​While unimpressive, it made me want to say that this guy is clearly evil, and that drove me to illustrate my point by creating this piece as a warning that this guy is up to no good. I chose the magazine theme to detail the difference between the now and a possible future. I had decided to make the first magazine torn in half as opposed to simply having a clean-cut because I wanted it to resemble as it were a mask being torn off of either the future or the person who Nayib Bukele is. The history repeats title is referring to what I said before of a populist leader rising only to become a dictator, as well as referring to El Salvador's past of having dictators.