Eye See You

Artist Statement — Leslie Wisenbaker

I painted Eye See You after realizing that I can’t unsee what I’ve seen.

This piece comes out of watching powerful people evade accountability while the rest of us are expected to play by the rules. Arrests, resignations, silence, distraction tactics, classified files, shifting narratives — it’s constant. And for years, I believed in the systems. I believed the adults in the room were handling it. I believed enough to not look too closely.

Now I look.

The egg represents protection — the shell of institutions, authority, reputation. We’re told it’s solid. We’re told it’s stable. We’re told to trust it. But pressure builds. Cracks form. And when it finally fractures, what emerges isn’t chaos.

It’s awareness.

The eye in this painting is calm. It isn’t screaming. It isn’t panicked. It isn’t outraged. It simply sees. That’s the shift for me — not rage, but clarity. I don’t need to know everything. I know enough. Enough to stop being impressed. Enough to stop outsourcing my discernment.

The barren landscape beneath the eye reflects what it feels like when belief breaks. It’s quiet. It’s dry. It’s a little unsettling. But it’s also honest. Something new grows after that moment, even if it doesn’t look like growth at first.

I love my country. I’m grateful to live here. I’m not interested in burning it down or pretending we’re doomed. But loving something doesn’t mean closing your eyes to the people running it.

This painting is about that line.

Eye see you.

And I’m not looking away.