What does it mean to be a citizen of the United States?

I had never given it much thought until Gwenn posed the question for this series of paintings.

Since I came from a very small country with a homogeneous population, I would rank the diversity, the size of the population AND the physical landscape as the most impressive features. The enormous size and what appeared to be limitless resources probably gave rise to the "Bigger is Better" motto personified by Paul Bunyan, the independent giant who changes the landscape with a swing of his ax.

That exuberant belief in large scale developments is now in question. The new Paul Bunyan, 100 years after his myth was born, would be more constructive. He would tend the environment. He would direct armies of workers towards repairing damage wrought by eager but short sighted development.

So what shall we call this updated Paul Bunyan, the preserver and thoughtful developer?

- Renate Powell