2013 • 60″ x 33″ acrylic, spray paint on used fence pickets
When tragedy happens, why do we find so many people thanking God that it wasn’t any worse? All of the credit – none of the blame? Good work if you can get it.
I’m not questioning God’s will, his power or even his existence with this piece. I’m questioning the egotistical belief that we have a gift giving invisible sky daddy and the shithead externalization of all blame towards the boogeymen from which He protects us. I may be comforting to a child to put a face on all the scary things that we can’t understand or control, but how can any adult settle for what is little different from the ignorant imaginings of scared cavemen explaining away the thunder.
We should take credit when you can, accept the blame when you must and get used to the fact that the universe doesn’t give a fuck about you.
2013 • 55″ x 33″ acrylic, spray paint on used fence pickets
I have long had issues with to Chick-fil-a. First because in the early days, it was only available in malls, and fuck going to malls. Then I found out that they were not open on Sunday. Sunday is just an arbitrarily chosen day that is different than the day the Jews observed. Why even bother? Fuck them. They would have me not able to buy chicken on Sunday exactly as I can’t buy liquor. Only later did all that anti-gay legislation stuff come out. That was just the icing on the cake and not even the subject of this piece specifically.
Because I associate such irrational fundamentalism with the egocentric worship of a mythical, blonde haired, blue eyed, virgin born god-man from the middle east, I chose to show the Chick-fil-a mascot cow proselytizing this naive belief, similar to the done-to-death ads with childlike cow writing used to promote eating more chicken. And of course what do they do while selling us their version of Christianity? They offer waffle fries on the side.
2016 • 26″ x 20″ acrylic, spray paint, used fence pickets
Bathtub Mary, also known as Mary on the half shell is a simulated lawn grotto framing a small statue of the Virgin Mary and less often, other Roman Catholic figures.
While often constructed by upending an old bathtub and burying one end, similar designs have been factory produced.
Bathtub Madonnas are also a common sight in north-central Kentucky and southern Indiana [where I spent a vast majority of my years on earth]…an area that has historically been predominately Catholic. A drive down country roads…will provide ample sightings of these small shrines.
This is a theme that is very rich for me. Not only as a recovering Catholic but because of its association with the archetypal “virgin.” Jung’s ideas on the subject helped with the recognition of my propensity to project. The discovery and recognition of the negative effects this subconscious power can have was a big part in causing me to want to confront the power of Symbols in my work and in my life.
Below you can see older, less successful attempts to do this idea justice as I was finding my visual voice. Lady (1) was a during a time when I thought my use of materials could support my half assed illustration style. It wasn’t until later that I’d be better suited to mixing realistic elements with (better) illustration (see: Lesser of Two Evils).
Our Lady of the Lawn (1): 15″ x 12″ 2011
Lady (2) was even worse for different reasons. I was determined to include text in the pieces as a more prominent element. Mary in a bathtub screams for a vertical support. I think I may have tried this horizontal as a challenge.
I failed.
The thing sucks for too many other reasons to list but it did get me closer to the success you saw above. This is why you take a step back after you finish a piece and evaluate your success and failures. Most importantly watch and listen to how people react to things. If you believe in the basic idea, you can eventually make your way to a piece that is worthy of the brilliant concept behind it.
2013 • 53″ x 35.5″ acrylic, spray paint on used fence pickets
I made this for a show celebrating the release of that awful new Wizard of Oz movie in the spring of 2013.
I love starting with a theme. In this case I researched the meanings and symbols in the original movie and the books it was based off of. Very much an allegory for the plight of farmers and factory workers, I starting thinking about all the reforms and subsidies that were put in place to ease the uncertainty of markets for Americas farmers and how over time they have been taken advantage of my larger and larger corporate factory farms.
Symbols and associations aren’t always “this equals that” in the mind of a writer or other creative person, but reading about these interpretations led me to my own associations about the book, the movie, their symbols and how people see the subjects they represent.
Interpretations vary, particularly on the lesser figures, but this will give the readers good reference points to begin their consideration of the matter. Was the symbolism consciously or subconsciously employed? We cannot know with certainty, nor does it really matter. What matters is that Baum understood the issues involved and employed them in Oz. Millions of Americans have seen Oz, generally several times. Knowingly or not, Oz has given us a key to understanding the solutions to the economic issues we face in our time if we could only accept that we have had the power to regain our bank-mortgaged homes all along.
Red Riding Hood has also been seen as a parable of sexual maturity. In this interpretation, the red cloak symbolizes the blood of menstruation,[27] braving the “dark forest” of womanhood…the wolf threatens the girl’s virginity. The anthropomorphic wolf symbolizes a man, who could be a lover, seducer or sexual predator.
Now all of this talk is rather Freudian, but we all know Freud said that “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar”…probably because he liked to smoke them. Now if the wolf is dragging the girl into womanhood and the woodsman is reaping the benefits, then they both have an interest in her “taking up smoking.”
A few people have recognized the composition of this piece as being a cigar box. Leaving the wood behind the figures unpainted highlights the sign-like quality.
2013 • 45″ x 31.5″ acrylic, spray paint on used fence pickets
As humans, we mask our existential angst and despair with any number of diversions and pleasurable sensory experiences…foremost among these is melted processed cheese product. This housewife’s acrimony can’t be masked as she readies to light another cigarette (a great way to hasten the death we all fear) after extinguishing the last in the party food, boldly giving a literal and figurative “Fuck You!” to whomever doesn’t like it.
The used fence pickets lend a feeling of age with the warped, knot filled support becoming part of the content of the piece, helping to evoke the bygone era represented in the woman’s clothing and the mid century chrome formica dining kitchen table. Despite the presence of the delicious cheese, she isn’t about to maintain the demure facade of the good housewife any longer.
2012 • 32″ x 15″ x 15″ acrylic, spray paint, fabric on wood
I was asked to submit work to a functional art show in Houston in November, 2012. I had never done any such thing. I’m not big on “surface decorating” so it was a big creative exercise for me to make my type of art work on a random “functional object.”
A trip to one of many local Goodwill stores had me dragging home any wooden thing with a flat surface that would take paint. I found this basic wooden chair and figured the seat would be a great place to try out the latest in my “Paisley Muertos” series…since I’ve sold out of all the older ones.
I had to take the back off which was a challenge to do without breaking anything. Then I sanded and glued down the fabric to the seat very carefully. Worked out great. I painted the seat and the back separately and put it all back together at the end. Worked out pretty well. I’m going to hit Goodwill again and find more stuff to paint on. I think stuff like this will be a great addition to a show of my paintings.
Room for improvement lies in the fact that I did not address the type of chair I was using when deciding on imagery. I’ll need to keep that in mind in the future. I suppose the images of decorated death on an innocent child’s desk chair is startling but isn’t really addressed directly by me here. Hmmmm….
2012 • 3.5″ x 15.5″ x 3.5″ acrylic, spray paint, mirror on wood
I was asked to submit work to a functional art show in Houston in November, 2012. I had never done any such thing. I’m not big on “surface decorating” so it was a big creative exercise for me to make my type of art work on a random “functional object.”
A trip to one of many local Goodwill stores had me dragging home any wooden thing with a flat surface that would take paint. I found this $10 chunk of walnut into which 7 holes were cut to hold candles. I meditated and wikipedia’ed on the number 7 for a while, thinking of how to incorporate its significance into the piece somehow.
“7 years bad luck” occurred to me at some point. Other things were also considered for a while until the idea of incorporating a broken mirror popped into my head. BAM! I found this one at the store that was exactly the right size. Art miracles can happen.
2012 • 42″ x 24.75″ acrylic, spray paint on used fence pickets
This was created for submission to the 2012 Huevos Rancheros jurored silent art auction. I had a while back found and noted a great(?) morning after, hair of the dog type drink: egg whites and absinthe. The idea was to use eggs in a vintage graphic sign type design on old fence pickets, incorporating themes from those wonderful Victorian absinthe lithograph posters.
2012 • 52.5″ x 35″ acrylic, spray paint on used fence pickets
We’ve all heard about combining food with other pleasurable sensory experiences like cheese and art shows, prime rib and strippers, sex and pastrami, so why not combine delicious food with a debilitating existential crisis?
Self doubt and sauerkraut obviously came together because of the rhyme, but the feelings of doubt that could be induced by the sight and odor of the strange and exotic are what is highlighted in this piece. The cautious angel is repulsed, the devil is ready to try anything, and the cat in the lederhosen is caught between belief and disbelief. Uncertainty, distrust, lack of sureness petrify him.
