Who am I, have I become my shield?
Got it into my head that the true self, he should be eliminated and only mask should be revealed.

I am vulnerable, I am pathetic, I got lost on life’s journey and now I regret it,
I feel like a majority of none.
Wanting to change the world for the better but I am scared, frightened that you will shun
my ideas of freedom, consider them a threat to our society,
this class ridden steady existence.
This world is not structured on our reasonable terms
we are alienated, we need united resistance.

Imagine that … John, he told me, I’m not the only one,

What does my shield creation boldly announce?

Am I a warrior, a Spartan, a fighter for my clan,
demanding my right to live my life respected as a man?

But, what does my mask declare?

I am not sure … what stands before you, I’m not sure …
what this man should do.
Am I my own self-made construction?
Or.. just .. an.. elusive.. reality.. reduction???

‘Born 1947, graduated from Sutton School of Art in the 1960’s and 2009 Camberwell (MA Printmaking). Robert is a painter, illustrator, print-maker, film-maker and experimental performance poet. He is a politically social issue led artist. Having worked within advertising for over 35 years has allowed him to utilise the tools and graphic skills that are exploited in that industry in order to communicate with his audience. He unashamedly uses cartoon, text, and visualisation techniques common in advertising to hopefully make his art non-elitist, democratic and acceptable to the uninitiated.’

Part One of Robert Ford’s Shields can be seen here