Disproportionate AF was created by combining the stars from a 3 x 5 ft American Flag (AF) with the stripes from a retired 10 x 15 ft version, stitched into a single, distorted banner that hangs just above the viewer’s head. The title refers directly to the American Flag, but also gestures toward the disproportionate forces, social, political, and ideological, that shape our national identity.
This work began with a question: why is the American flag reproduced with such obsession, on clothing, bumper stickers, and beer cans, and who is it for? Often imagined as a marker of unity and freedom, the flag has been increasingly co-opted as an emblem of white supremacy, hate, and far-right extremism. The visual imbalance in this piece mirrors that ideological distortion.