New Last Meal Painting Finally on the Easel

I began roughing in Last Meal: Darrell Grayson this morning, but in truth the work itself actually began a few weeks ago. Unlike most of my pieces, which are typically composed and begun in a matter of hours or days, the paintings in the series of death row Last Meals take much longer (no pun intended) to execute.

To research and make a decision on which execution to highlight is difficult for me; while the impetus to select an innocence case is sometimes overwhelming, it is the grey areas within justice, society, redemption and punishment that I ultimately find more compelling. I haven’t met anyone that believed the execution of an innocent person was not a terrible injustice; however opinions vary as issues of race, legal representation, sanity, police misconduct, and evidentiary procedure are raised; and tempers flare as the nature and types of crime are revealed. It is within grey areas such as these that a society defines its humanity.

Preparing and consuming the inmate's last meal can be emotionally draining and some meals are simply more difficult than others. (Take for example, the 3 barbecue ribs from Cameron Todd Willingham’s last meal – executed for the arson deaths of his 3 children in a fire now widely believed accidental, each bone on the plate was both eerily symbolic and repulsive at the same time.) The excesses of some meals (James Colburn’s 6 tins of Coke come to mind) contrast with the simplicity of others (Tookie Williams’ oatmeal) while preparing, serving, and dining result in a host of conflicting emotions, as the complementary roles inmate/chef, guard/state/executioner, and condemned man converge. While I photograph the leftovers immediately following the meal, it is often several weeks before I gain sufficient distance to formalize the composition and actually begin painting.

Which brings us back to Last Meal: Darrell Grayson. Darrell Grayson was executed in Alabama in 2007 for the rape and murder of an elderly woman in 1982; while he freely admitted being capable of committing the crime, he had been drinking heavily and reportedly had no memory of that evening. While physical evidence was collected at the scene of the murder, the State of Alabama repeatedly refused requests to have a DNA test performed that would either confirm or deny his involvement. A black man with little income, he was represented at trial by a court-appointed divorce lawyer with no experience in capital cases and was convicted by an all white jury. His last meal consisted of a cheese omelette and sliced tomatoes.

To learn more about Darrell Grayson's case, visit the Innocence Project for news articles surrounding his execution.

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Tags: art death penalty, death penalty art, Kate MacDonald, death row Last Meals, painting