Artist: Andy Diaz Hope

Title: Mr. Pharmacist

Medium: Glass vials, duratrans photographs, wood, acrylic, light

Dimensions: 32 X 40 X 8 in

Andy Diaz Hope is known for mixed-media installations and fantastical sculptures where intricate patterns and light systems draw on Diaz Hope's engineering background. His art seeks to offer alternative viewpoints to the mainstream media out of a desire to foster dialogue, encourage pluralism, and critical thought.

From the artist's statement: "Mr. Pharmacist is a portrait of my home town pharmacist. A familiar figure of my childhood whenever anyone was sick or needed care. The piece is part of the "Illuminated Beings" series that is a sub-series from a larger body of work titled "Better Living" that explores Americans' complex relationship to recreational and pharmaceutical drugs. "Better Living" references the promise offered by pharmaceutical companies, specifically science megacorp DuPont's ad slogan from 1935 through the mid 1980s "Better Things for Better Living?Through Chemistry." The "Illuminated Beings" series consists primarily of backlit portraits of pharmacists, drug dealers and young children-- who represent untouched humanity --as the Pantheon of American Drug Culture."