One Flew Over The Rainbow 

Dave Macdowell’s painting, *One Flew Over The Rainbow*, mashes up cinematic worlds to create a jarring critique of mental health institutions. It pulls from the fantasy of *The Wizard of Oz* and the gritty realism of *One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest* to question authority and conformity. The artist uses familiar characters to explore themes of power, control, and sanity. We see Nurse Ratched as the Wicked Witch, her green skin signalling her malevolence. McMurphy stands in for Dorothy, his manic grin challenging the sterile environment represented by Emerald City, now the 'Mental OZipital’. Macdowell critiques the power dynamics within these institutions, revealing the fine line between care and control. The rainbow, a symbol of hope, is twisted into a sign for a mental hospital, suggesting that the promise of healing is often illusory. The mashup prompts us to consider how society defines and treats those deemed 'different', challenging us to resist easy answers and embrace the complexities of the human mind.