Sue Coe's work is not meant to be swallowed easily and quietly...they are direct reflections of her experiences...say what you will about her work, as a person, her desire to confront the ugly truth is something admirable...She is quite the eclectic and exuberant individual...I have had the pleasure of meeting her a couple of years ago, while at Miami Dade College...this piece, Meat Fly, is a document of her time at slaughter houses...she is a devout vegan and women's issues advocate...these feelings are brought into the image through visual language, placement and value...they are not happy works, life is dismal, black and white...the addition of limited color shows us that this world is not a make believe, dramatized existence...it is grounded in something real...The strong value variation on the left hand side, where the the animals are hung to be slaughtered is balanced by the large, primarily grey right space...the whites of the windows allow the eye to flow across the picture plane and the geometries of the room, bars and grate contrast the organic animal forms...the images are conceptually and formally at odds with one another, fighting a battle...the male figures are organic also, alluding to the idea - we are slaughtering are own kind...the blood and milk flow from the cow, directly in the middle of the piece, referencing religious paintings - the lamb of God, birth of Jesus and the manger...
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