LYING IN STATE

Lying in state is one of the artists remarkable installments which has a satirical theme with a comic twist. the installmant is made uo of mostly found objects mostly cigarette packets arranged in a structure that resembles a coffin. The gigantic stick of cigarette, which also represents a wrapped up dead body, is simply a bunch of dried grass wrapped up in a long cylinderical white paper. Its dimensions are 280cm x 20cm x 40cm .
The story behind the inspiration of the artwork is as hilarious as its theme. The artist, during a burial of an uncle who died as a result of a cardiac problem caused by excessive cigarette smoking , recalled an aunt who at the scene of the burial (that is when the body was lying in state and the visitors and family where observing it and paying their respects) was said to have exclaimed that it wasn't a human body that was lying there but "cigar", her own way of saying cigarette. The artwork illustrates and emphasises the health hazard caused by one of the modern day symbol of class and style, which is cigarettes.