Sugar Rats Disco · Transfigured Pedestrian · Mock Modernism
Dada Contrivance · High Plains
Assemblage in denatured alcohol, one gallon jar- 6.5 dia. X 10.5,” 2003
It was a known fact that West Nile Virus was killing the Jays and Crows in nebraska. So, it was with reluctance that I removed my latex gloves in order to tie two hundred knots while attaching yellow jackets (from the nest used in Wasp Paper Wasp) and red seed beads to the feathers of a dead crow.
Jar sculpture- Assemblage in denatured alcohol, 5 X 8.75 X 2.25”, 2002
Lidded jars function like the glass contained environment of aquariums; the glass is ignored (until it shatters) but not the shape of the contents. Now, as in my childhood, jars are arenas of contained experiment. Calendar was created with a newborn, three, six, twelve and twenty-four day old mice.
Spider house collaborative #3, assemblage with live spider hung by a thread from the ceiling two feet from the floor, 4 X 5 X 3”, 2003
The Spider house sculptures were created to collaborate with chance web building behaviors of spiders. Domestic Bliss was inspired by Lichtenstein’s appropriation of vintage comic books and the tendency of the female widow to have the upper hand.
Paper burnt with a magnifying glass, 8 X 16,” 2003
Inspired by boyhood stereotypes of ant burning, I contemplated the automatic tracings generated by chasing live ants on white paper with a focused beam of light. But, I chose a more representational and less cruel concept. After testing several different lenses, I could not draw successfully on plain white paper; white reflects too much solar energy. However, I did discovered how to burn through a photocopy; the black toner absorbs the radiation. Ever watchful for wildfires, I learned how to control mark making with the Sun, ‘Solargraphy’. Protecting myself with welder’s goggles, I reproduced an ant from the genus Solenopsis.
An installation of found objects and manipulated images, created for “Dada Contrivance” at Apex Gallery, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, 2004
Seeds and glue, 2004
Grass seeds picked from my socks after trail running were transfigured into an earth goddess image to reflect the reproductive distribution of the grass.
A flea and glue, 2003
Linoleum cut with perforations, 2003
A gift for newlyweds with just-in-case perforations.
Assemblage in denatured alcohol, 4.5 dia. X 11,” 2002
Assemblage in denatured alcohol, one gallon, 2002
Both of these birds were discovered drowned in a windmill fed cattle watering tank; neither bird was there the day before. Their double drowning inspired a double entombment in glass.
Ants and glue, 4 X 7.5,” 2003
Assemblage with an orange, 2004
This piece elevates spoiled fruit to the dignity of high art.
Sugar Rats Disco · Transfigured Pedestrian · Mock Modernism
Dada Contrivance · High Plains