Evil Leader II (The Demise of Subservience)
2017
MDF, HD Polyester woven print, Mechanical Collage

A monstrous character, once a powerful ruler, can be seen crumbling
into jagged crystalline shapes and inky growth growths in a classic tale
of corruption that clashes antiquity and modernity. The theatrical setting
of the work places a giant figure on the centre stage being devoured
by a corrosive army that is entirely infectious. The demagogue is being
transformed into a colossus that can no longer be contained in her mortal
body. The demise and collapse of subservience has begun. The entourage
of cultish beings desperately try and maintain the stability of the villain,
but panic is in the air.

Rayments work Evil Leader II (The Demise of Subservience) is politically
charged in response to the return of mass social upheaval and shines
a light onto the repeated patterns of political leadership and the
theatricality of its nature. Leaders mask their animus in a plethora of
disguises, their favourite mantra still remains “Strong and Stable” as it
was in days of 20th century political radicalism. The work expresses the
contradictory nature of power sadomasochistic within society that was
prevalent during the late 1980’s and informs much of the narrative within
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.