Untitled, (painted doll) by John Barna
- Title: Untitled, (painted doll)
- Artist: John Barna
- Medium: Silver gelatin
- Size: 16"h x 20"w
- Added to collection: 2020
- Donor: Gift of the artist
- Campus: Rock Creek
- Location: B2/2 Math Division office rm 210H
The scrutiny of ruins-- both of toys and of abandoned houses-- is a theme that runs through the photographs of John Barna. His work evokes childhood in all its wonders as well as its wounds. This figurine of Luke Skywalker from Stars Wars might be just a well-loved toy, but photographed in close-up, it becomes a frightening death's head. Barna's ability to compress the mundane and the terrifying in a single image becomes a striking correlative to the imaginative world of childhood.