INSPIRATION

Top Row: Desired. Bottom Row: Acquired.

Artists that inspire me seem to always change. Here are a few names. Mike Piscitelli, Julien Langendorff, Robert Rauschenberg, Neil Krug, Claes Oldenburg.

3D || 2D

Drawings.

Touchstone Stack. Mixed Media. 13.5 x 25 cm. White Ink, Paper Cutout on Ribbed Cardboard.

Monument. 23 x 17 cm. B&W Ink Wash on Card Stock.

Voyeurism. 30 x 9 cm. B&W Ink Wash on Card Stock.

Ambiguous. 23 x 17 cm. B&W Ink Wash on Card Stock.

Determined. 16.6 x 13.5 cm. B&W Ink Wash on Card Stock.

Gregor’s Bed. Mixed Media. 26 x 27 cm. Tape, Paper Collage, Wood Glue, White Ink on Wheat Paper.

Memento. Mixed Media. 27.5 x 27 cm. Wood Glue, Soap Shavings, Black Ink, Paper Collage, Hemp String Wheat Paper.

Sound Confession

Death by Misadventure

“Let’s face it, the future as a Rolling Stone is very uncertain. My ultimate aim in life was never to be a pop star. I enjoy it with reservation, but I’m not really sort of satisfied either artistically or personally..” -Brian Jones. 1965.

II

Such a statement might give one a sense of the deeply misunderstood personality within the mind of early Rolling Stones guitarist, Brian Jones. Fellow band member and bassist Bill Wyman stated, “…he formed the band. He chose the members. He named the band. He chose the music we played. He got us gigs … Very influential, very important, and then slowly lost it – highly intelligent – and just kind of wasted it and blew it all away.”

Notes on Jones

The piece deals with the caged mind of Jones in his downfall of addictive madness and inner turmoil. Primary focus was given to the center of the form as something “pure” to be represented by a spherical magnification device where underneath it reads, “Death By Misadventure,” by which Jones was pronounced after found at the bottom of his swimming pool at his countryside mansion.  Around the center, you can see the use of thin, coiled string which gives meaning to the mental battles and uncertainty of his everyday life.  It is enclosed by half of a tinted, plastic orb to emphasize the challenge others faced trying aid in breaking his habits. He was truly a misunderstood human whose death was a tragedy upon many lives.  The form as a whole stands as an alien-like craft to commemorate Jones as a lost soul who remained an outsider no matter how close he had come.

Above is the pronounced statement describing the death of Jones and the personal confession itself. I recorded the one titled Death by Misadventure  with a piano piece and my own voice to stand as a sort of reflective announcement. The one below titled, Brian Jones :: 1965, is an actual recording of Jones himself making his honest confession.

Masked Identity.

Cone of Uncertain Visions (CLICK)

Coptic Hands (CLICK)

When I constructed the mask, I kept my place of origin in mind. Mobile; the primary French capitol of the Louisiana Territory in what was the early formation of the United States. The French people brought over their beliefs of Medieval Catholicism along with traditions and culture entailed within the life of their people. Such traditions included Mardi Gras, which began here in 1703. It was a time for peasants to gather in costume and enjoy themselves outside of their normal lives whilst merrily parading around town and drinking wine to celebrate.

To the people, it was a time to find oneself and have a new breath of life into something that was not able to be predetermined. It was an uncertainty of what was to be discovered. That I think is a beautiful thing. Of course, it was a very religious time for people, but I think that concept of giving form to celebrating life is essential.

The mask was shaped as a direct influence from the annual tradition of the Mardi Gras celebrations. The pointed shape remains true to that which people would have worn in Medieval times, yet deviates the original by connecting down into a cylinder shaped all the way to where the neck and shoulders meet. Visually the piece is almost religious and architectural in figure that may cause one to wonder if there is some sort of ritualistic cult gathering about to take place.

Soap Carving.

360 VIEW

VIEW THE BRUTALITY (click image)

Additions: Honey, Cheddar Cheese, Coffee, and Red Wine.

Subtractions: Bit it, Beat it, Whipped it, Burned it.

Paper Stacking

Touchstone.

Organic Avocado

The forms relate directly to the readings by Diane Ackerman about “touch”.  In the first section titled, “Speaking of Touch,” it really did guide me to realize its importance in our lives. Included was Fredrick Sachs writing that states, “The first sense to ignite, touch is often the last burn out: long after our eyes betray us, our hands remain faithful to the world..”  Even from birth, touch is what emotionally stimulates infants towards love and comfort. Touch is everywhere from beginning to end.

When creating the paper forms above I wanted to hone in on the quality of comfort that is translated into emotion from the sense of touch. Both forms were something that could give off a good feeling inside the palm of ones own hand. Running fingers over the surface and noticing the ribbed, yet smooth structure of the thick paper stacks smoothed into something worth touching. It almost makes you wanted to just fumble it around and toss in the air with sheer entertainment. It may even act as a stress reliever or maybe even give a sense of stimulation to some lucky contestant..

The Metamorphosis.

Henri-Louis Bergson: the reading drawers, chests, and wardrobes gives a very keen expression of human relation to poetic imagination. There is a lot of good material within this writing, so I wanted to point out some of my favorite excerpts.

” The image is a phenomenon of being; it is also one of the specific phenomena of the speaking creature. A metaphor is a false image, since it does not posses the direct virtue of an image formed in spoken revery.

For it is not the intelligence that is a filing cabinet, but the filing cabinet is an intelligence itself. A wardrobe’s inner space is not open to just anybody. Only an indigent soul would put just anything in a wardrobe. Being a poet, recognize that memory is a wardrobe. It is not opened every day, and so, like a heart that confides in no one, the key is not on the door.

A lock is a psychological threshold. Complexualistic! Two pent-up human beings communicate by means of the same symbol. If we emphasize sexual symbols, we should conceal deapth of the dreams of intimacy. When we dream of locks and keys there’s nothing more to confess. But poetry extends well beyond psychoanalysis on every side. The poet lives a daydream that is awake, but above all, his daydream remains in the world, facing worldly things. It gathers the universe together around and in an object.

Beautiful objects created by skillful hands are quite naturally “carried on” by a poet’s daydream. The poet has given concrete form to a very general psychological theme, namely, that there will always be more things in a closed, than in an open box. To verify images kills them, and it is always more enriching to imagine than to experience.

There is only one place for the superlative element of what is hidden. The hidden in men and the hidden in things belong to the same topo-analysis, as soon as we enter into this strange region of the superlative, which is a region that has hardly been touched by psychology. And to tell you the truth, all positivity makes the superlative fall back upon the comparative. To enter into the domain of the superlative, we must leave the positive for the imaginary. We must listen to poets!”

Single Bed Set (1)

The size, shape. and color choice of the bed set directly relate to a section of Kafka’s Metamorphosis where Gregor looks to the wall to notice a portrait of himself in military uniform. According to the story, it was taken during the time that he had served as a lieutenant and pictured him with “hand on sword, a carefree smile on face, inviting one to respect his uniform and military bearing.”

Single Bed Set (2)

After reading that section, I sensed the bed to be a sort of single, military bunk, but with a bit more home-like touches. This is noticeable mainly in the color choices between the military green bed sheet and the brown wooden frame surrounding. The box spring, mattress, and pillow are represented in white ink to add to the simplistic military style as well, but while also giving it a sort of blank feeling. This was done to express the idea that we as readers don’t exactly know what happened to Gregor the night that he underwent his transformation. We can only interpret it from the time that he opened his eyes.

What’s Inside?

Part of the story describes a setting where Grete is moving around things in Gregor’s room, one of the items being a heavy chest. It was after reading that particular scene that I had decided to incorporate a wooden chest to not only express my ideal item, but also to give a sense of harmony in relation to the design of the bed set. The main idea was to create something that could conceal the transformed creature as described in the story.

The Insect of the Unknown

On first glance you may think that the form pictured above is a piece of chewing gum or some sort of an animal brain, but it is fact an interpretation of the insect that Gregor had become after his metamorphosis. Although it appears to have no outer features other than a centralized body, I wanted to create something that appeared to just simply sustain life without expressions of freedom or happiness. The color red was used as a notion of urgency or reaction of immediate attention such as those who laid eyes on the creature for the first time. Kafka seemed to limit the descriptive context of how the insect actually appeared, but rather gave hints to lead the readers to interpret it in many different ways depending on individual perspective.

malingerers: to feign illness or other incapacity in order to avoid duty or work.
palpitating: to move with a slight tremulous motion; tremble, shake, or quiver.
memorandum: ashort note written as a reminder.
hitherto: until this time.
recalcitrant: marked by stubborn resistance to and defiance of authority or guidance.
charwoman: a woman hired to do cleaning or similar work, usually in a large building.
milliner: ene that makes, trims, designs, or sells hats.
larder: a place, such as a pantry or cellar, where food is stored.
chagrin: a keen feeling of mental unease, as of annoyance or embarrassment, caused by failure, disappointment, or a disconcerting event.

MEMENTO.

“Warm Sound”

“II”

“III”

This piece was constructed to serve as a singular representation of authentic experience.  The specific memory of my great-grandparents is rather involuntary.  I can remember holiday season being the definitive time of year where gifts were being exchanged by many.  This element of family activity was incorporated in the shape of a hand-folded, paper flower to emphasize the beauty of giving.  Beneath, you can see a metal figure that resembles a phonograph.  It gives significance to not only an obsolete item, but also to the sense of consciously hearing someone’s voice in accordance to an individuals personality.

The qualities of a person’s human nature is what seems to lead us to think, feel, and remember someone in some relative sense. The piece of wood at the bottom was used in order to have some organic and natural quality representing the genuine relationships between diverse generations of people. It was also something that stood as a memory of seeing the wooden interior of my great-grandparents home after they had passed.

Altogether, the form endeavors a natural vestige commemorating rich, warm qualities of others in relation to the human senses.

Expressive 3D Forms.

Ambiguous

What occurs behind the closed doors of an institutionalized government edifice is the great unknown to the American people, but in more recent  times there have been more information and media being leaked to be seen by the eyes of many. Thank you technology. We are now able to see confidential military missions and government objectives in all their unjust glory.

The form above is a representation of the act of such files being leaked to the mass population from those of higher power. The shapes on the upper half were crafted to resemble a pentagon as a literal message refereing to the United States Pentagon. The pentagons are pieced together to appear to be a sort of dying flower in geometric form raised above metal pins as a representation of inferior society that catch the hanging shapes (hidden files) as they fall and are penetrated and truthfully revealed behind what is being carried out by such authoritative powers.  The center pentagon on the top center is an the source from where these dying leaflets may then fall to be discovered down below.

Determined

This form spoke to me as an expression of actions towards reaching a goal on any level whether it be individual or global.  Of course, whenever a goal is set to be achieved there will in most cases be some sort of barrier or obstacle hindering one from grasping what is to be obtained from the situation.  These barriers were expressed through the use of the black triangles in front of what appears to resemble an almost mountain like structure behind.  This was construction to express the idea of determination by overcoming miniscule obstacles to reach greater peaks of ultimate desire.

Voyeurism

Usually something that is voyeuristic occurs while one is alone seeking some type of sexually satisfying thing or instance usually through some outlet of media being transmitted onto an electronic screen.  This was the type of environment that I wanted to create as you can see the two objects standing resemble a sitting place with a monitor at the end of a long strip of narrow wood.   The idea behind the placement was intended to express the idea of an almost tunnel vision type of scenario where nothing else around  matters except what is being emitted onto a screen for individual satisfaction.

Monument

A monument is normally something that is set to recognize someone or something of great importance and achievement worthy of being remembered.  This miniature was created to signify neither of those, but rather to question the structure and architecture of the monuments that an average person may see in the world around us.  It is to stand as a sort of experiment towards something that could be considered in the future as a landmark constructed for no reason other than visual pleasure. The shape that you see here was done by cutting out two coffin shapes from a long narrow strip of wood and using the negative space in between as the piece itself.