Jeff Koons in Vacuum Cleaner Dirt
Flocked screen-print, 2005
The contents of my vacuum cleaner bag were sifted through a window screen to remove dog hair and other large particles. This refined powder was sprinkled over freshly screen-printed glue, creating an ode to honor the creator of New Hoovers.
Slug
Slug tracks with layered fabric, 2005
Snails and slugs relentlessly ravage my garden, leaving their iridescent tracks at the scene of the crime. With much patience I herded slugs (snails create dotted tracks) to control the lines I wished to draw. This battle of wills incorporates chance into my art making.
Ant Farm
Ants and glue, 2004
I was given a large bucket of honey because it was full of ants. This honey was heated and filtered, and the ants were rinsed and arranged in this line drawing of a farm scene. The contamination of ants was made useful through humorous collage.
Buddha
Screen print flocked with mandala sand, 2005
After Buddhist monks dismantled a sand painting, they distributed small amounts of colored sand grains to the crowd. This sand was reassembled into the image of Buddha.
Dust Mite
Screen print with vacuum cleaner dirt, 16x6," edition of seven, 2005
Jack's Ladder
Fancy neopolitan dog hair with one rare whisker, 2005
For previous dog hair artwork, I collected hairs directly from my pets. However, these unusual tricolor hairs were individually collected during a one-year period from various locations in my home. The act of collecting the overlooked is as important to me as this woven presentation.
Hawai'ian Ants
Ants and glue, 2005
Techniques were invented for the collection of ants from my kitchen.
Learning Curves
Slug tracks with layered fabrics including a discarded skirt, 2005
Pineapple
Fruit flies, glue and screen print, 2005
Although drosophilia (fruit flies) have played an important role in the study of genetics, the image of a pineapple was an appropriate choice for the transfiguration of this common household nuisance. Fruit flies feed upon yeasts that feed upon the sugars of ripe fruit. Thus they are attracted to the kitchen. After several fruit-bait trapping inventions failed to yield the necessary quantities of art material, a collecting net was improvised from a thrift store nightgown (see "Sheer Retinals"). The repeated collecting trips to Tantalus trails, where the fruit flies were attracted to the rotting guava, became an essential part of the art making process. I have previously toiled to create a primary object through mechanical reproduction, but Pineapple represents much more accumulated labor (a strategy for making things special) than previous projects.
Mildewed Shibori or Destruction is Creation
Layered fabrics, 2005
After many attempts, this is my first successful piece to incorporate the natural pigments of mildew (and other molds) into a work of art. I was inspired to experiment with Shibori by a kimono in the Honolulu Academy of Arts. I am transfiguring the fungi's ability to destroy (rot) and stain combined with a technique that clearly represents an investment of time; two of my favorite art making strategies.
Venus of Dog Ticks
Ticks (Dermacentor variabilis), glue and screen print, 2005
Ticks removed from my dogs, one at a time, were placed in alcohol. The ticks for this project were collected over a four-year period. The halftone dot size of the printed guide-image was adjusted to correspond with the average size of dog tick. Individual ticks were then glued in place, dorsal side up, to cover the various sizes of halftone dots thus creating this primary object through mechanical reproduction.
Transfiguration 1a: a change in form or appearance: METAMORPHOSIS b: an exalting, glorifying, or spiritual change.
Pedestrian 1: a person who goes or travels on foot… 4…commonplace; prosaic.
Natural history museums epitomize kitsch and collecting. I am fascinated with taxidermy in dioramas, biological specimens preserved in jars of formaldehyde, tribal artifacts, and insects on pins carefully identified and arranged. Celeste Olalquiaga said "Kitsch is nothing if not a suspended memory whose elusiveness is made ever more keen by its extreme iconicity." I strive to create extremely keen icons.
