ALPHA BABOON

painted wood, 16″ x 13″, 2006

This monkey is very strong, pig-headed and relentlessly driven by the need to avenge every slight, real or magined. His rise in the troop’s hierarchy has been mostly through brute force, …and lowly cunning. All his decisions are motivated by a thirst for power rather than a concern for the greater good. Some of the younger, more clever, agile and charming baboons have invaded Alpha’s harem behind his back. But the ladies have been discreet in order to escape his wrath and enrich the genetic pool for their progeny.