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"Portrait of Sylvia von Hardcase"

Dixie Otto

Having lost a lung and a half to demon tobacco, Ms Otto became a crusader in the battle to stamp out cigarette smoking. She did this by producing some of the most hideous portraits ever executed, in the process using up tube after acrylic tube of nicotine ocher, tar black and carcinoma gray. 


In the portrait shown here, mischievously entitled "Sylvia von Hardcase," to disguise the lady's real last name,¹ Ms Otto highlights smokers' blatant disregard of other restaurant patrons yearning to breathe free, a right noted on the base of the Statue of Liberty. Not to mention the rather prominent sign next to the offender's head. The distorted hands may be indicative of smoker's acromegaly, or Palmer's Syndrome. In any case, the artist drives home her point with a blunt instrument, even adding a death's head to the cigarette case to get the message across to the totally clueless.

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¹Hackspittle.
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Acquisition made possible by grants from Nicorette® and Zyban®, and Bendix® brand Iron Lungs & Respirators "Easy on the Inhale, No Burning on the Exhale!" ™

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