midden

Ishi

2012-02-13T05:51:00.000-08:00

Eamon released his latest self-published minicomic: Ishi's Brain in mid 2011. I really liked the way the main character looked and starting making him as a marionette.

I've been going about making him in a really unconventional way. Instead of making him and then painting him, I've been painting as I go. So far, just the head and torso are done. I think it's just because I'm really excited to see him done!

Ishi's Brain by Eamon Espey Darkly symbolic and eloquently illustrated, this minicomic is based loosely on the story of Ishi, who is believed to be the last Native American to live the majority of his life away from European American culture.

Eamon's comics are available through Secret Acres and Sparkplug Comic Books and in stores.

Shrine for D

2011-12-11T15:31:00.000-08:00

Recently, I was walking some dogs in the woods that are near the neighborhood where I first lived when I moved to Baltimore. I suddenly remembered the last time I went there.

It was 2008, I was led by two little boys that I knew from the art program that I was teaching that summer in the neighborhood. One was nearly mute when I met him. At the point we were at that day- he was the bold leader while his older cousin was scared and decided to meet up with us later. I walked into the woods with the then 8 year-old boy, listening to him talk about his father.

He led me through the woods for quite a while to the spot where his father's body was dumped after he was shot earlier that year. His father was 3 years younger than me. His body was severely decomposed and had to be DNA tested to determine his identity. This was a huge confusing concept for the boys. They'd grown obsessed with watching the dead rats in the neighborhood rot away in the alleys. I assume it functioned as part of a folk-science that happens in childhood, when you need an explanation for abstract or terrifying things. They asked me many questions that summer, and their voices still haunt me sometimes.

I also remembered that the boy's father's body was found by a man walking dogs, and it reminded me that I am not so safe in the woods here. I remember that day and how much fun I had with those boys after we left the site- climbing trees, hiking around, and throwing rocks in the stream. I remember how one of the boys asked me if I was remembering my childhood, and how hard I hoped that day that they were forgetting their adulthood.

At the end of that summer I did an installation about what it was like to be with them in those months. It was my first shrine and I called it Prayer for Innocence. I no longer have it, but I guess being back in the woods in that area brought all the memories back to me clearly. I needed to put them somewhere so I made this one.

I've seen the little boy a few times in passing over the years since moving away, and he's gradually forgotten me. His stare is cold, and his look is hard. I am scared for him.

Giant Papier-mâché Puppet Head

2011-10-06T15:16:00.000-07:00

So i came across this website for The Puppeteers' Cooperative and am totally inspired and overwhelmed with all the awesome options for making cheap and huge puppets that they have listed there. Here's my first shot at a giant head.

I built the armature out of clay I already had from making the heads for human wack-a-mole and stuff in my recycle bin and went to work. It took lots of layers of corn starch papier-mâché using newspaper and torn brown paper bags, but I was satisfied with the process. Especially since it only cost 80¢ for cornstarch and is totally nontoxic!

The Making of "Jack and the Beanstalk" Marionette Show

2011-07-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

At Black Cherry Puppet Theater, a few of us are working on a new marionette show for our original family shows repertoire. We're adapting it from the rod puppet show "Jack and the Beanstalk" created by our puppeteers Justin Durel and Jennifer Strunge for the 2010 Free Fall Festival. It was a huge success, and featured live banjo music by J Dilisio.

I've been charged with the task of creating a chicken that lays a golden egg.

Lucky for me, Michael had this schematic on the technical design of how the mechanism would work:

I guess the drawing was a little less technical than he remembered. I had a similar issue when I went to look for the original chicken from the rod puppet show.

After acquiring the cardboard puppet used in the first show and the crow from Hansel and Gretel (one of our other shows), I went to work on our little chicken.

I decided to copy some of the joints from the crow because I like it's neck movement. Here is the armature for the chicken with a hallow cavity for the egg to come out:

August 6, 2011: I finished forming the hallow body w/egg cavity from paper mache, so it covers the body armature photographed above. After some sanding, I attached those wings that I carved and voilà!

I began working on some little chicken claws:

And below is the control, specially designed so the chicken can bob it's head and flap it's wings erratically.

August 27th, 2011:

I finished working on the feet and painted the chicken after resolving some issues with the wings getting twisted. I still need to decide on the textile covering for the body and wings.

My next step will be figuring out how to make the egg and release mechanism for the chicken to lay the golden egg. After that will be stringing it. I'm almost done!

Bench Hook

2011-07-12T15:40:00.000-07:00

I made my own bench hook the other day and I'm pretty proud.

After my marionette carving workshop in Prague, I bought some chisels. So now with my bench hook, I don't have any excuse not to begin working with whatever scrap wood I can find!

Straw Bale Construction in Ohio

2011-07-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

Over the first weekend of July, Eamon and I went to a farm in Ohio and learned to build with straw.

We helped build a simple shed for the llamas and goats on the farm.

The foundation is made from old tires rammed with earth. Each tire is pounded by hand using sledgehammers and shovel loads of dirt. They are then leveled.

Erika (PA) taking a break from pounding tires, Chris (OH) leveling, and Eamon, stoked.

Walls are a wood frame with chicken wire and rebar to pierce the first level of straw bales- additional levels are pierced with saplings. It is all girdled together with additional saplings tied to the structure through the strawbales- to cinch it into place. Layers of clay/straw/water mix are applied to the walls.

Chris and Marilyn (OH)

The walls are scratched between layers, and a final mix of clay/water/shredded straw this time, and addition of a high % of sand content. The final coat is a lime wash (not photographed).

If this is compelling to you, and you would like to learn more- I can recommend that you look on some natural building message boards to find some projects happening in your area. Like this one in Chicago, or this one in Philadelphia. Or go to the Earthship Website to find the closest project in your area where you can volunteer.

I will tell you that the place we went had some wonderfully inspiring workshop participants, but the people that ran the farm were quite obnoxious. I would think that people on messageboards would be way more appreciative of the help that you could provide than those two shifty tycoons.

But on a positive note, we finally got to see a real live Earthship!

Eamon has been researching natural building techniques over the past few years- in addition to working on his next book while rehabbing houses. Through this research, we both have become very excited about the work of Michael Reynolds in pioneering a style of housing that is an entire ecosystem- collecting rainwater, generating solar power, and a grey water filtration system that includes a food producing greenhouse. Featuring earthen construction, recycled materials, and beautiful glass bottle walls; all sitting on a foundation of rammed earth tires and built into the side of a hill.

They are so incredible...

That weekend, we learned that we totally loved the process of building with natural, nontoxic materials and that we both felt so comfortable inside the Earthship, despite strange energy.

All in all, we had a pretty good time...right, Eamon?

Clusterbomb Bears: the Czech Republic

2011-06-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

Clusterbomb Bears in Sedlec Ossuary in Kutna Hora

and overlooking Staré Město from Prague Castle.

The Ossuary in Kutna Hora contains the remains of 40,000-70,000 people who died from the plague and wars in the 14-15th century. All of the bones were dug up when a nearby town was mining the area for silver- and the cemetery was in the way. The church gave the job of stacking bones to a half-blind monk (1570s). Later the Schwarzenbergs, wealthy Bohemian aristocrats owned the church and charged František Rint, a woodcarver (1800s) with figuring out what to do with the bodies. He decided to decorate the church with them- which has things like altars, garlands, and a chandelier all formed by human bones.

Through the wars and occupations of Prague by the early 1910s, traveling folk puppeteers often kept most of the stories and history alive going from town to town putting on performances that subtly challenged or critiqued society. Some were even put on trial for their political activism, but they shifted the blame onto the puppets.

Puppets and a replication of the theater used by Katel Novak

(1920s) in the Plzen Marionette Museum

While Prague was never bombed in WWII, it was occupied by the Nazis and later the Russians until 1989. During those periods, the Czech culture was threatened- people were stifled, jailed, and probably killed.

One such project that uses puppeteering as political commentary during the Russian occupation is Jiří Trnka's The Hand (1965):

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This continued through the 1980s, and when Communism finally left Czech Republic there was a flood of creative power and freedom. While visiting, it was amazing to find how many interesting projects began in the years immediately following the occupation.

Maybe these stories don't seem to relate to my Clusterbomb Bears post, but I'm beginning to see why I pick the areas that I do for my installations. It's often because I want to relate the stories of an oppressed tribal, creative, or working class culture and unify these places through the symbolism of the Clusterbomb Bears as an absurd, immature, irresponsible, and deadly imperialistic occupier.

Marionette Carving in the Czech Republic

2011-06-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

I was one of 12 people from 5 continents accepted into a special course in Czech style marionette carving taught by Miroslav Trejtnar for June 2011. Mirek was trained as a wood carver in high school. After that he worked restoring woodwork in ancient churches. In the early 1980s, he began working in puppetry for Jiří Barta's studio on a famous project "Krysař (the rat catcher)".

The end of which, in all of its bad ass sonic and scenic glory is posted below:

Over the 2 weeks of this program- we designed, carved and painted our marionettes. We then took 3 days and made up a show using all of our wildly different characters. We made props, sound effects, and sets out of things we had at the workshop studio.

Tara Cooper (Austin TX)

Mirek Trejtnar helping me attach joints.

Sam Ritter (New Jersey)

Our other carving teachers included Zdar Šorm and Sota Sakuma, and Dora Bouzková helped with manipulation and performance.

Zdar Šorm

Mirek teaches, Sota and Zdar in background

Dora Bouzková "cleaning the scene" with Kay Yasugi (Australia), Nina Prader (Austria/DC), and Abi Tucker (Australia)

Nina and Pali Diaz (Argentina)

Junko Kanayama (Japan/UK)

We then performed at the workshop endparty and then the next day at the Prague Quadrennial Exhibition of Performance Design and Space, for their Scenofest: Street Stories program.

Leny Pinkava, me, Mirek Trejtnar, Pali Diaz, and Nina Prader

During the evenings, we saw shows at Minor Theater, Divaldo Anpu, La Fabrika, and a small group of us went to the National Marionette Theater independently of the program. After the program, Eamon and I visited The Marionette Museum in Plzen- about two hours from Prague by train.

We also visited the home of Mrs. Varlova who has thousands of puppets ranging from the 1800s to the 1980s in her apartment. They are hung on all the walls in all the rooms, sometimes double and triple rows. Sometimes set up with the actual backdrops from the performances.

Standing: Abi, Tara, Kay, Junko, me, Leny, Nina, and Pali. Seated: Ericka Haverly, Sam, Mrs. Varlova, Peggy Rock

Mrs. Varlova, who's incredible collection began when her husband used the money they'd scraped together under communism to buy a car- on a small set of 4' puppets from the 1800s. She now has probably the largest private collection of marionettes in Prague. In her apartment. Amazing. (They never bought a car.)

This is the most incredible program for the study of traditional marionette carving techniques, costuming, and theater exercises. They also integrate many experiences for learning the history of Czech puppets, animation, theaters, and puppetry, as well as exposure to styles of puppetry and their uses in the current theater scene in Prague. I got so much more than I imagined possible from this experience and I would recommend the Puppets in Prague program to anyone who loves Czech puppets and animation and interested in learning the art of carving a wooden marionette.

Just look how crazy happy I am...

I was impressed both by the teachers and the organization of the program as well as all of the talented women I met while in it. We came from all over the world for our own reasons and with our own stories, and became friends in this experience together. I am interested to see how our lives all go from here.

Video by Kay Yasugi

Amulets

2011-05-04T07:27:00.000-07:00

In the last few years I've been doing research on shrines and amulets. Then I use things I've found and collected in my own projects that are inspired by my research. Last year I made 30 each of three types of amulets to give everyone that met us in the desert last fall, and for some reason I didn't take any pictures of my process. I am making new ones now and documented them here.

The symbolism in these amulets is sourced from practices in place for protection of travelers and people in transition throughout African, Asian, Eastern European, Mediterranean, Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Native American Cultures.

I combined those different symbols into my own super-amulet.

As part of the packaging, I include keys to the symbolism:

BLUE BEAD: sky/sea, turquoise, maintains harmony (Mediterranean/Middle Eastern)

EYE: one of the most powerful protectors against evil, blue eye stares back at the unseen evil eye meant to harm (Italy/Greece/Turkey/Uzbekistan)

TANGLES/LABYRINTH: confuse or catch evil spirits & dreams and they loose their way (N. American Indian/Finland)

TREES/TWIGS: regrowth (Europe/Middle East/ Asia)

TRIANGLES: amulets made for travelers are crudely stitched and protect from illness and the evil eye (Egypt)

FEATHERS: guide good dreams and ensnare bad. they move through the air and thus connect the human and spirit world. (N. American Indian)

RED: blood of life, most potent force against evil, confronts darkness with a blaze of sun and light (Eastern Europe/Russia)

RED THREAD: tied to anyone in a transitional phase of life (Greece/Bulgaria)

RESIN/CLOVES: strong smells repel evil spirits (almost everywhere)

*----------------------*

These type of Amulets were part of the art show C A R T in July 2011 at Current Gallery. The idea behind the show was to turn the gallery into some kind of art mini-mart.

Andrew Liang made a special display for them on the wall to the left of the register, next to Eamon Espey and Andrew's chalkboard mural. Monique Crabb took these two pictures of things I put in the show.

Dance of the Devil Dolls

2011-03-31T12:23:00.000-07:00

Jeanine Padgett and I performed at the Black Cherry Puppet Theater's 3rd Puppet Slamwich on Saturday March 26th. Our marionettes acted out a radio play from the 1940s called The Dance of the Devil Dolls that was originally aired on the program called The Halls of Mystery.

The shows in the series have gotten pretty popular, so they presold tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/162386 and sold out 2 shows that night!

Poster by Eamon Espey

Stills from the show:

Dance of the Devil Dolls: Part 1

Dance of the Devil Dolls: Part 2

Dance of the Devil Dolls: Part 3

Pocket Shrines and Spirits

2011-03-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

I made small warrior magnets as well as some shrines that house them especially for a few important women in my life.

Jen

Brigid

Brittany

Making The Dance of the Devil Dolls

2011-03-13T19:34:00.000-07:00

Teufel Puppen!

2011-01-09T19:13:00.000-08:00

These are some characters for my first marionette show to be held in March of 2011 at Black Cherry Puppet Theater .

Warriors

2011-01-09T18:46:00.000-08:00

I came up with a base to make the warriors free-standing.

Clusterbomb Bears: Southwestern New Mexico and Gila Cliff Dwellings

2011-01-09T18:19:00.000-08:00

In November 2010, Eamon and I got married in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Afterward we took a short trip around Southwestern New Mexico including City of Rocks, Tome Hill, the Gila Wilderness, and Gila Cliff Dwellings. While on the trip, I took some Clusterbomb Bear photos in the region.

Shrine Workshop at The International Art In Response to Violence Confrence

2010-10-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

I was invited to give a talk and host a workshop at the 1st International Art in Response to Violence Conference at Northeastern Illinois University held September 30-October 1, 2010.

This event was sponsored by the Illinois Art Therapy Association, Adler School for Professional Psychology, as well as the MA in Counseling, Fine Art, and Psychology departments at NEIU.

I gave a presentation about my experiences working in communities as an artist since moving to Baltimore in 2008 and hosted a workshop on building shrines.

Creative Activity Workshop

Workshop Title: Shrine Building Workshop

Proposal: I have been building small shrines from things I find on the streets of Baltimore City. I collect objects and arrange them in handmade boxes, creating something beautiful from a very turbulent and violent city. In this workshop, materials will be provided for construction of a small shrine or amulet. Participants will be guided through quiet personal reflection on a difficult experience, and technical assistance will be provided for the design and creation of an object to symbolically transform or commemorate their survival of the situation. Participants will keep their shrines or amulets.

These are some of the end products:

I would definitely give this type of workshop again. I enjoyed the atmosphere working with a group of artists and art therapists, but I could see doing this with many different groups of people. The participants in this workshop really liked the way the it was organized and I was satisfied with the outcome of the prompts I used for the project.

This was the description I submitted for my presentation:

Paper presentation

Presentation Title: UnWIREing Baltimore

Proposal: The Wire, a popular television series, has familiarized people all over the world with Baltimore’s story- the corruption, the high murder rates, the 42,000 abandoned houses, the heroin and gang activity…but there is another story that needs to be told. I would like to share my field experience as an artist working with inner city youth in those neighborhoods of Baltimore. In my presentation, I will share art programming and student work from these neighborhoods, as well as a slide show of several of my own shrine installation and sculptural art works that have emerged from their stories and my own reflections. I will provide information, stories, and effects of other activists’ projects and partnerships with the city- such as murals and community gardens that have transformed abandoned lots where drug and gang activity had been taking place. Such undertakings in these neighborhoods provide a source of inspiration and hope for the community.

The presentation was very cathartic for me. I have had a wide range of experiences in Baltimore and needed to mark my growth since leaving Chicago. It was very helpful for me to take the time to process my experiences and have a venue to share with an interested audience.

Presenter Bio

Lisa Krause (b.1979) is a mixed media artist who lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland. A native of Illinois and 2007 graduate of Northeastern Illinois University,she focused her BA on art-based research with youth in psychology and recycled materials in sculptural installation. Currently, Lisa facilitates art workshops for youth in rough neighborhoods, builds shrines and bear-bombs, & participates in solo, group, and puppet shows.

Clusterbomb Bears: Hammerfest, Norway

2010-09-17T22:38:00.000-07:00

New photos of the Clusterbomb Bears photo installation project during our trip to Norway for the Oslo Comix Expo in June 2010. I photographed the bears in Hammerfest, a small fishing village in the Arctic Circle and then sold all the bears at the Expo in Oslo.

The photos are in a Sami Burial Ground, near the shore of the Artic Ocean, in an outdoor facility for drying fish- which was historically a main industry of the town before oil refining companies took over, and on the summit of a mountain in the town of Hammerfest.

I will be showing these photos at the International Art In Response To Violence Confrence in Chicago, IL September 30- October 1 2010. I will also be giving a presentation about my personal and community art work in Baltimore as well as experiences and opportunities for like-minded artists in the city. I also will be giving a workshop on shrine building.

Ball Movement II: Mole Balls

2010-05-01T00:05:00.000-07:00

7th Annual Transmodern Festival
April 15th – 18th, 2010 — Baltimore
Museum of Art + H&H Building, Baltimore

(where the moles learn to survive through waves of hellish laser beams of doom (made of ping-pong balls), veiled behind some alter egos (different character cut outs with a face hole). mean while, the exterminators works out their team effort to overcome disorientation and distractions of all natural and supernatural elements, and successfully score and eliminate the pests by unleashing velcroed thunder balls aimed at their head. head shots only. SEE VIDEO BELOW

A project of Michael Benevento and Andrew Liang

Contributors / Artists
Russell Hite, Katherine St Paul Hill, Elena Johnston, Sean Honey, Jeff Mcgrath, Jordan Kasey, Lou Joseph, Eamon Espey, John Bohl, Katie Rose, Gary Kachadourian, Kieran Gillen

Mole Sculptor
Lisa Krause

Harness Engineers
Melanie Lester and Risa Ono

Sound Engineer
Martin Kasey

Staff / Volunteer
Annie Gray, Steve Santillian, Miranda Pfeiffer, Krysten Watson, Joana Kopcyzk, Mitchell Goodrich, Megan Chin, Michell Porucznik, Bettina Yung, Maude Kasperzak

Photographer / Videographer
Monique Crabb, Emmanuel Nicolaidis, Andrew Shenker

This Just In:
Review on Charm City Current blog April 28, 2010
While I didn't get mentioned on the website for my work, there's some great photos of the molehelmets and a really good review of transmodern by the director of the Baltimore Museum of Art

Forum of 40 Champions- Curated by Gary Kachadourian

2010-04-30T23:50:00.000-07:00

Forty champions, each possessing a special power, have been invited to create a warrior to enter the Minstallation Gallery and face the special powers of their peers.

Minstallation Gallery
Creative Alliance at The Patterson
3134 Eastern Ave. Baltimore, MD
Closing Reception, Saturday, April 10, 5-7pm
February 27 – April 10, 2010

Curated by Gary Kachadourian
Installation and Logo Design by Eamon Espey
Sound by Witch Hat
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=300706996682&ref=mf

I used this project as an opportunity to expand on my warriors that I had been making before. I added to the original 2 and made a bunch more. As with my shrines, I've been using stuff I pick up walking around. In this case some things include shells, seeds, stones, ground turquoise, cardinal bones, a humming bird's head, prize-winning chickens' feathers, and hair from rabbits, deer, and dog.

Shrines

2009-09-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

I've been making small shrines from things I pick up while walking around the city as part of my job. I collect whatever looks interesting and bring them back to my workspace where I file them by color family in clear containers. I then use these things to construct small assemblages in little paper houses. I find I am enjoying the process because it's kind of like flower arranging, but also because I am making amulets out of trash- I am searching for something sacred and beautiful every day.

Warriors

2009-07-15T20:45:00.001-07:00

drawings of real and imagined Kachinas

2009-07-15T20:33:00.000-07:00

2009-07-14T04:48:00.000-07:00

Shed

2008-11-15T20:27:00.000-08:00

Shrines

2008-10-15T20:53:00.000-07:00

Prayer for Innocence

2008-08-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

Clusterbomb Bears: Chicago

2007-08-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

I incorporated my background in photography into this series, installing my small sculptures of Clusterbomb Bears in various locations in the city of Chicago and documenting the installations in the style of a photojournalist. The Clusterbomb Bears are cast plaster and found objects, faux finished using a process that takes on the same look of the casing of decomposing metal bombs found in bombsites. Using the same teddy bear symbol from my previous Watermine Bears, I am referencing a symbol of security and children that originated in the United States.

While we do not live amongst bombs, we must imagine what it would be like. Much of the population of the world is subjected to these situations, often at the hands of countries like ours. Clusterbombs are perhaps the most horrible of all weapons currently used in conflicts. Indiscriminate bombing in residential areas where civilians are maimed and killed by unexploded bombs waiting in the rubble. Children will find these bombs and think they are food or toys. The military will often argue that it is not cost effective to clean up after bombing campaigns. What I am hoping to achieve through this series is to enable civilians of our culture to imagine what it must be like to live amongst bombs. To help us understand what others are going through, and help pressure our military as well as the military of other countries - to stop using such weapons.

As a sculptor, I am influenced by international photojournalism, conversations, and news reports. I have a history of political activism and community organizing, and use this in my conceptual sculptures to address cultural problems and inspire thoughtful change in communities. During the course of this project, I spoke with people in the communities in which I installed my work as my project led to occasional random observers. The dialogues included discussions about military recruitment practices, bomb testing in Vieques, PR, and current military campaigns.

Clusterbomb Bears, creation and installation

2007-08-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

For this series, I had been working with imagery by photojournalist Sean Sutton and Mines Advisory Group America (MAG). The images he provides cover the efforts of MAG to clear military debris from former conflict zones in areas such as Iraq, Cambodia, Lebanon, and Vietnam. Inspired by the visual impact of his documentation of the devastation coupled with news reports of people attempting to piece their lives together amongst bombs in Afghanistan and Iraq from National Public Radio, I wanted to help us envision the international landscape by setting it here.

The Remains of Our Immortality, Sites 1 and 2

2007-06-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

the remains of our immortality: sites 1 and 2.
6’x3’x10” each
mixed media (cardboard, wood glue, jute, scrap wood)

I carved two 6’ long x3’ high reliefs in cardboard. The cardboard came from my work in retail. I decided to make this piece in the style of an archeological expedition, as if our culture were halted today and unearthed in the future –like what had happened in Pompeii. What would people think we valued? What could they tell about our culture based on our relics, our garbage? This was what I was thinking about when I began to undertake this project.

Totem: At the End of the Day

2007-05-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

totem: at the end of the day.
2’x2’x6’
mixed media (carved televisions, video, acrylic, plywood)

I formed totem poles from discarded televisions, carving traditional characters into the surface and accenting the detail in acrylic paint. The video in the screens addresses common elements of our human evolution across cultures. I created this piece to emphasize the irony of cultural evolution in which western societies feel that anything else is backward. The symbolism in using outdated televisions emulate the iconic characters used by Northwestern native American tribes to teach tribal history and protect villages addresses the nature of our current society. Our wastefulness, as well as our passive reliance on convenient media to educate and inform ourselves.

Security: Bear Mines 5308174 and 73287489

2007-05-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

security: bear mine 53009174 and bear mine 73287489
2 pieces, 2’x2’x6’ each
mixed media (cast fiber glass, scrap metal, tow-chain, concrete)

More than a year ago, among the releases of information provided by our Department of Homeland Security; was the revelation that the Taliban would be sending bombs disguised as teddy bears in the mail to random American citizens. I visualized the exploding bears, and found it ironic that children will use teddy bears for security, and that water mines are defensive weapons used to secure an area. I decided to create teddy bear water mines in a reaction to the paranoia over terrorism and good/evil in our culture, as well as for the children that are fighting in the wars.

Anytime Minutes

2007-03-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

Into the Woods

2006-07-14T05:04:00.000-07:00

into the woods.3½’ x 1½’
mixed media (bed sheet, scrap wood, clothing patterns, photo transfer)

This painting was also done on a bed sheet stretched over scrap wood. It evokes the feeling of being lost in the woods through the line usage, and accentuated through the white tree shapes. The line structure comes from a child’s clothing pattern from the 1970s. The teal accents add structural lines, contrasting the forest and a manmade environment. It also includes a photo transfer of two children sleeping in a pile of leaves from the children’s story “Babes in the Wood”.

Little Problem

2006-07-14T04:42:00.000-07:00

little problem
18”x12”x4”
mixed media (scrap wood, pigeon poker, oven-bake clay, bee’s wax)

The boxes represent two different situations, one being my perspective of missing a friend amid distractions (in this case material), and the hole before the one character on the right shows them falling into a writhing mass of bodies (self consumption) where there is a skull in the background as a fractured mosaic. Skulls are traditional symbols for mortality. The continuous-line drawn pigeons are done in bloody red. Pigeons are dirty city birds that act pompous and righteous, and the fingers are symbolizing something small, what my friend had referred to as his little problem. This piece came after an argument about the severity of using oxycontin and heroin.

What are we going to do with all the bodies?

2005-11-15T18:50:00.000-08:00

I happened to be on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean when Hurricane Katrina made landfall. It was my first experience of a hurricane. Within days it destroyed the poorest area of New Orleans and exposed the world to the persisting race and class divide, unspeakable poverty, neglect, and violence in America. I will never forget seeing photographs dead bodies that were left behind in the streets or strapped to telephone poles by officials as the water retreated. It made me think of all of the things that elected officials are putting off repairing, much like the levee that broke- year to year. And about how the poorest people are the ones that live in the most dangerous places in these cities, because those with money can move to safety. In the coming years and coming natural disasters and lack of revenue- more structural problems will come to light, just as a roof will cave when leaks aren't repaired. It just makes you wonder, what are those things that our local governments are putting off repairing till the next years agenda? And what are we going to do with all the bodies?

Division and Western

2005-07-14T04:59:00.000-07:00

Create a Natural Environment

2005-07-14T04:54:00.000-07:00

dimensions variable
mixed media (dead trees, latex house paint, wire)
2005

This earth art piece was done in 2005 at a forest preserve in Shenyang, China for the International Horticultural Expo held in 2006. This project evolved from concept to installation over the course of a week in which the entire length of 10 dead trees (from roots to branch tips) were painted fuscia and suspended sideways throughout a small valley on either side of a stream and was designed to be view from a naturalized foot-bridge in the forest. Its materials, color, and composition addressed the irony of human desire to create a natural environment, when the point of nature is that it is not man-made.

1997-2004

2005-07-14T04:37:00.000-07:00

1997-2004.2’x3’ shadow box and 8.5”X11” itemized list
photographs, mixed media (found objects from travel)

Two items, a shadow box and a frame with an itemized list of the date and location of each photo. Under each picture is a corresponding figure number. Photos were taken locally and on road trips across the country. Patterns emerge such as a missile in a parking lot in Kentucky, and a subdivision in New Mexico, Collections of shoes nailed up a telephone pole and stickers from a museum going up a crosswalk signal post. Objects around the border came from many of the trips and walking places.

In the Hospital

2004-07-14T04:34:00.000-07:00

Rest/Unrest

2004-07-14T04:32:00.000-07:00

Transmission and Death by Papercuts

2004-07-14T04:28:00.000-07:00

Folie a Deux

2004-07-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

folie á deux.
6’ x 4’
mixed media (found frames, dead bees)

A variety of papers were attached to each other creating a large enough surface for me to trace myself lying with myself. The sheets were then cut and framed in separate frames. The abdomen of the yellow figure was gutted and framed in the box from a grandfather clock. It contains mixed media; including dead bees, medication, and a paper angel inscribed with the words “Prey for us”. The title is a psychological condition in which the otherwise sane companion to someone who has a disorder begins exhibiting signs of the disorder. By the mouth of the yellow figure, is an attached clipping. A line from a song found in a 1970s music magazine reading: “Now that you’re on your own, how does it feel to feel the way I used to feel.”

The line on the ground

2004-07-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

the line on the ground.
18”x8”
mixed media (braised rods, oven bake clay, found letter)

This was an early box I made inspired by the letter in the background, which I had found in a gutter. It was wet and the words were running, but it was an apology for a fight and for hitting the person that it was for. I braised rods to make a fence, and modeled the little character that is tied up on the floor. The title was a line from the short poem I wrote that is in the background and there are some photos I had taken incorporated into the piece.

In this world a woman isn't worth much

2004-07-12T11:59:00.000-07:00

I support the availability of affordable, safe, and legal abortions because they are medical procedures, and not a political topic. If you want to talk politics- It is often those people that are "prolife" that are also "prowar". I'm pro-life too, pro-my life and I work toward a better life for those around me, including hundreds of children whose survival is dependent upon programs most "prolife" people don't want to fund. The historical truth is that girls and women who want an abortion will get one regardless of its legality. Its our responsibility as a developed society to ensure that people are educated and healthy, and able to make informed decisions as well as know how to prevent a pregnancy in the first place. Cultures without science rely on witchcraft or folk beliefs, but since we have science- we should not let those people that believe in magic distract us from societal responsibility and medical safety.

Contact print made from reversing photographs and text. Mixed media fetus.