This sculpture is my attempt to represent my own impressions of current public opinion and perceptions regarding the position of the USA and the UK in world affairs.

The hands linked together - allies in an unfriendly and dangerous world. The restraining hand is the UK in it's effort to influence the younger, more impetuous, USA. The experienced ex-imperial power exerting itself against the inexperienced, aspiring, imperial power.

The nail represents the common enemy of both - Islamic Extremism. It fixes them both ever closer together, fusing them into one. The sculpture also draws on Christian iconography. The nail from the crucifix - an echo of evangelism in it's extreme form as it once swept over the world destroying all other cultures, all under the banner of the cross. The same religious extremism that currently drives the modern day terrorist.

Both left hands..."wrong handedness"??

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