03/24/2022
A post in honor of the great Madeleine Albright, who passed away yesterday.
The inspiration for CHICKEN Madeleine Albright’s name:
When I painted this chicken, I wasn’t sure of the gender. How does one tell the difference between a hen and a rooster? Have you ever felt confused about who you are?
This made me think of the story of Madeleine Albright, the former trailblazing Secretary of State. Albright, who was raised as a Roman Catholic and later converted to the Episcopal Church, has said she discovered late in life that her family in Czechoslovakia was Jewish and that more than a dozen relatives, including three grandparents, were killed in the N**i Holocaust. She was Christian, and then she was Jewish. Identity is sometimes very blurry.
In any case, I love hens and roosters. Each one is unique and much smarter than you might think. They can recognize up to a 100 different human faces; they make around 30 different sounds to communicate with one another; and they like to purr (like a cat!) when they are happy, cozy and safe. Sixty billion chickens are farmed for food every year. Raised in horrific conditions, they are unable to express their natural behaviors, and the last thing they feel called to do is purr. Let’s choose compassion, and allow each individual bird to live a meaningful life. Just think of Madeleine Albright.
