"Protest Babe" 13X16 signed Print On January 7, 2026 ICE agents shot and killed Renee Nicole Good amid a sweeping immigration crackdown. On January 24, ICU Nurse and legal observer Alex Jeffrey Pretti was also shot and killed by ICE agents. These murders had an overwhelming impact on me compounded by the collective emotional outpouring in our state. "Protest Babe" is rooted in that moment of collective grief, outrage, and political upheaval that Minneapolis and many other communities have been experiencing in response to the violence forced on us by federal immigration agents. Often when traumatic loss occurs in a deeply public and politically charged context, communities carry emotion: shock, sorrow, anger, fear, hope, and solidarity. As with many artists I tend to witness and internalize these collective emotional currents before they are fully articulated to words or organized action. Once consumed this internalization requires an outlet and the most effective and healing option is a visual vessel to hold these overpowering emotions. This painting began in the evening of the day I witnessed Alex's execution. After combing through the most representative press images of our community throughout this terrible time, the drone image of the evening march the night Renee was killed was a striking example representative of our solidarity. A starting point of a community healing from the seismic emotional rupture and unresolved pain. This piece embodies that sentiment making visual what many are trying to understand emotionally. Babe is our stand in for shared identity. Rooted in Minnesota’s mythic and communal imagery. Standing among grieving, shocked and angry protestors linking collective identity and collective mourning. A witness and participant, not a neutral symbol. Babe stands among people who are hurting and resisting , it’s a way of translating communal spirit into form. Artists often take intangible energy: shock, grief, outrage, compassion and amplify it through composition, color, posture, light, and symbol. The evening setting, for example, evokes a dusk of uncertainty and reflection, while the protest imagery conveys action, a community pushing back against fear. Standing between the glowing red traffic lights telling the world this isn't acceptable and must stop. This mirrors how people in Minneapolis and beyond have physically taken to the streets following these deaths and the brutal, unwanted intrusion of ICE in our normally peaceful communities. Art isn’t always about closure it’s about acknowledgment. My hope is that this piece holds space for people to see and feel something that many are still trying to make sense of. It offers a shared emotional reference point that can be returned to again and again.
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