August, 1979

Ira:           This large painting was to be the beginning of my vegetarian saga.  In this canvas I deal with northern meateating, eventually  I had hoped to work my way down to the tropics, highlighting the various methods of getting 'meat.'

One night I had a dream where I zoomed in on Elsie, the Borden cow, she slowly turned her head towards me and gave me a beautiful wink, the next day I became a vegetarian.  'If I could not kill it, I would not eat it', became my dietary mantra.

Corliss:          I was living in NYC, Ira was living in the country at an ashram part of the time.  I remember walking into our loft and confronting this eight foot figure with a knife poised in her hand.  My breath caught in my throat.  I had just finished reading "Diet for a Small Planet" a book that directed my thought from that moment on.  At the time Bridgette Bardot was bringing public awareness to the plight of baby seals being clubbed to death so that rich women could adorn themselves.

Commentary from exhibition at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California.