Jill Henderson, Lilac Useless Money No. 1 (1995)

Jill Henderson 
Lilac Useless Money No. 1
from Useless Money Series
1995
acrylic on wood panel
16 x 11 x ¾ inches
 
In Useless Money (1995), a series of oval paintings of dollar signs, Henderson liquefies the monetary symbol’s value as she depicts a collection of nonchalant scribbles. The handwritten symbols disintegrate its graphic design, pulling it apart, turning it backwards and upside down, doubling it, erasing lines, melding curves and reconfiguring its core elements—all done haphazardly with no veneration for the almighty dollar’s emblem. Henderson’s rendering of these scrawls collapses the dollar sign’s worthiness as a symbol. In her meticulous representation of the original unrefined and careless reiterations, she exposes the weakness of its form, questioning the need for two vertical lines and pointing to the lazy appropriation of the capital letter ‘S’—which isn’t even inverted. The symbol all of sudden appears hackneyed, definitely not worthy of all our hopes, dreams and savings.
 
Useless Money was included in the group exhibition Beauty #2 at The Power Plant, Toronto in 1995.