Parting Words: Haunting Artwork Depicts Death Row Prisoners' Last Words (PICTURES)

Haunting Artwork Depicts Death Row Prisoners' Last Words
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A photographer has created a portrait series with a haunting twist.

The images below are mug shots, with the faces made not of pixels or pigment – but of the last words from prisoners on death row.

Chilling statements from "I am innocent," to "I will wait for" are revealed in an extensive venture that examines capital punishment and solitary confinement in the United States.

The artist has not yet updated her project to include America's latest execution – a woman convicted of torturing and killing a mentally impaired man she lured to Texas with the promise of marriage.

Suzanne Basso, 59, was put to death Wednesday evening in a rare execution of a female prisoner.

Before being put to death, Basso told a warden who stood near her, "No sir," when asked to make a final statement. She appeared to be holding back tears, then smiled at two friends watching through a window. She mouthed a brief word to them and nodded.

Below is a selection of Ms Elkins' work:

Karla Faye Tucker: Executed Feb. 3, 1998; Age 38

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Elliot Johnson: Executed June 24, 1987; Age 38

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Ignacio Cuevas: Executed May 23, 1991; Age 59

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David Goff: Executed April 25, 2001; Age 31

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Robert Black Jr: Executed May 22, 1992; Age 45

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Samuel Hawkins: Executed Feb. 21, 1995; Age 52

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Leonel Herrera: Executed May 12,1993; Age 45

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Miguel Richardson: Executed June 26, 2001; Age 46

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Richard Beavers: Executed April 4, 1994; Age 39

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Edward Green: Executed Oct. 5, 2004; Age 30

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Tommie Hughes: Executed March 15, 2006; Age 31

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Javier Cruz: Executed Oct. 1, 1998; Age 41

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Willie Shannon: Executed Nov. 8, 2006; Age 30

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Robert Thompson: Executed Nov. 19, 2009; Age 34

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Randall Hafdahl Sr: Executed Jan. 31, 2002; Age 48

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Franklin Alix: Executed March 30, 2010; Age 34

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Robert Coulson: Executed June 25, 2002; Age 34

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Luis Salazar: Executed March 11, 2009; Age 38

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Allen Janecka: Executed July 24, 2003; Age 53

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Mathis Milton: Executed June 21, 2011; Age 32

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Vincent Gutierrez: Executed March 28, 2007; Age 28

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Edgar Tamayo: Executed Jan. 22, 2014; Age 46

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A History Of Capital Punishment In Texas
1819(01 of12)
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George Brown is first person executed in Texas, by hanging. (credit:Getty)
1863(02 of12)
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Chipita Rodriguez is first woman executed in Texas, by hanging. (credit:WikiMedia:)
1923(03 of12)
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Lee Nathan becomes the last of 394 people executed by hanging. (credit:Getty)
1924(04 of12)
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Charles Reynolds becomes first inmate to die in the electric chair in Huntsville as state takes over executions. (credit:WikiMedia:)
1963(05 of12)
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Joseph Johnson is the last of 361 Texas prisoners to die in the electric chair. (credit:WikiMedia:)
1972 (06 of12)
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U.S. Supreme Court finds death penalty "cruel and unusual;" death sentences of 52 people in Texas are commuted to life in prison. (credit:Getty)
1976(07 of12)
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U.S. Supreme Court holds Georgia death penalty statute constitutional, setting stage for resumption of executions. (credit:Getty )
1977(08 of12)
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Texas adopts lethal injection method. (credit:Getty Images)
1982 (09 of12)
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Texas inmate Charlie Brooks becomes first in U.S. to receive lethal injection. (credit:AP)
1998(10 of12)
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Karla Tucker becomes first woman executed in Texas since Civil War. (credit:AP)
2000(11 of12)
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Texas executes a record 40 prisoners in one year. (credit:AP Photo/Pat Sullivan, File)
2013(12 of12)
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This undated file photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Kimberly McCarthy, who is on death row in Texas for the 1997 killing of a neighbor during a robbery. McCarthy is scheduled to be executed on June 26 and would be the 500th in Texas since the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976. (credit:AP)