Asleep at the Trigger is based on the idea of lethal beauty. It is at once inviting yet toxic, and it ignites with a passion the desire to possess. The project is inspired by the practice of engraving guns which Welzer interpreted as a way to display wealth, power, and control over an object of deadly consequence. A gun is a gun—but a beautiful gun is something more. It offers a moment of hesitation into what would have been an immediate detection of violence. What was once feared will now be observed, touched, and coveted. Because of an intricately designed, painfully constructed facade, the decorated object supersedes its intended use.

Asleep at the Trigger is an exhibition of new work by Christina Welzer (B.F.A. '19).