Work — Emmy Walka

The Root of Evil

Money as object and obstruction. Three portraits, one proverb — See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil — read back not as innocence but as complicity, bought and worn well. Currency covers the eyes, cuts the hearing, seals the mouth. The halo behind each figure borrows from sainthood and propaganda in the same breath: this is what modern worship looks like when the god is wealth.

Each figure is sharply dressed and faceless in identity — an archetype, not a person. Institution, ambition, status, performance. The suit is the same whether the hands are on the hips, thrown up in a peace sign, or raised in a fist. That's the point: money reshapes perception and turns selective awareness into a form of participation, no matter which gesture you're making.

See No Evil

Blindness as a choice, not ignorance. The dollar bill sits over the eyes like a blindfold worn on purpose. The yellow halo keeps the confidence and the authority intact, wealth just edits out what it doesn't want to see.

II.

Hear No Evil

Silence as performance. The peace signs say everything's fine. The bills over the ears say he's not actually listening. This one's about the social choreography people do around corruption when staying comfortable matters more than staying honest.

III.

Speak No Evil

The fist is up. The mouth is covered. This piece asks the uncomfortable question: can resistance stay real once it's on someone's payroll? Activism and complicity, standing in the same suit.