Sentinel

This piece is about Law with a capital L—not just the brittle law of the frontier, but the inescapable law of karma. The Sentinel is a still point in a chaotic universe, a silent guardian at the gates of consequence. His presence alone is the verdict. A sentinel is a guardian, a watcher at a threshold. The artwork is built around that idea of a fixed, immovable authority presiding over a chaotic world. This authority is embodied in the central figure: a fusion of archetypes—part preacher, part lawman, part judge. He holds both the book and the gun, and the sign behind him, "CHECK YOUR GUNS," is not a suggestion but a decree. The cowboys and cowgirls flanking him are rendered static by the rigid symmetry of the composition. They are the subjects of his judgment, their pulp-fiction aggression frozen and held up for examination. The entire scene is contained within the iconography of a wrathful Dharmapala, whose mask forms the architecture of the judge's bench. The Sentinel’s authority isn't just his own; it’s backed by a cosmic, protective force.