Fred Wilson

Drop Dripped

Drip Drop Plop

I'm not sure of the title, but it sits in the U.S. Pavilion

Speak of me as I am

Mining The Museum

Turbulence

Dark Dawn

While working in my studio, which doubles as my room, I've started to watch the ART 21 videos done by PBS. Art 21 is about artists in the 21st century. These videos take on 4 or 5 artists who focus or relate to one subject. The videos then explore the art with the artist leading the way. We used to watch them in art school all the time, but I thought it was important that I watch ALL of them.

Hearing an artist talk about their work has always been more or as intriguing to me as experiencing the work itself. I'm most interested in social commentary, the exploration of society and how our world works. Watching ART 21 the other day I ran across Fred Wilson, who I had forgotten about over the years. His ideas and philosophy behind the meaning of objects, how they represent history and society sounded familiar. Wilson explains, "I get everything that satisfies my soul, form bringing together objects that are in the world, manipulating them, working with spatial arrangements, and having things presented in the way I want to see them." I work this way as well, using the objects themselves to speak, almost as evidence or a testament to the past. For me the objects often represent a secret kept hidden from the present.

I also relate to Fred Wilson's use of "Black Tears." He blows these beautiful fluid objects out of opaque black glass, sometimes giving them eyes. These simple shapes represent Black people themselves. Or maybe its a sadness or a pain they represent. I use eggs in the same way, representing women.

Fred Wilson has taught me a lot about my own work and I wanted to share some of his images.

Egg Madonna

I've always struggled with putting my work out there for others to see and possibly hate. I've been making a lot of work in the comfort of my studio until my room mate suggested that I step outside of the box and outside of my own insecurities.

Two of girlfriends have studios at Junctionview and they put on their very own show! With a little encouragement from them I entered three pieces into the show and guess what...I sold two! I've been feeling very encouraged lately, finally striking a balance with self-criticism and confidence.

thanks to all my wonderful friends!!!

here is one of the pieces I sold:

"Egg Madonna"

I sold this piece at BIGGIE SMALLS, at Junctionview Studios

for more information:

http://www.junctionviewstudios.com/

my messy studio.

My studio takes up one wall of my bedroom. I've been painting/sculpting, whatever you want to call it, a lot more recently and I rarely clean. I'm the messiest person I know, even though I grew up with my mom demanding everything be clean to her standards. But this is how i work...in the company of chaos.

mookie luckily found a place to catnap in the clutter.

Eduardo Bertone

I love this guy.

check out his blog: http://bertoneeduardo.blogspot.com/

his official website: http://www.bertoneeduardo.com/

DaMN! You're Pretty, playboy art

these little drawings of pin up girls are found in every issue of playboy.

I DON'T LIKE YOU.

since i've been focusing mostly on sculpture this past year, i've come back to a childhood favorite of mine, collages!! They're more freeing than sculpture because I don't have to plan anything out, which is always fun.

I made this after Gerbs gave me a lot of shit.

Palm Reading

My friend Gerbs and I spent a couple hours looking at this last night.

some extra information from wikipedia:

A reader usually begins by reading the person's 'dominant hand' (the hand he or she writes with or uses the most)(sometimes considered to represent the conscious mind, whereas the other hand is subconscious). In some traditions of palmistry, the other hand is believed to carry hereditary or family traits, or, depending on the palmist's cosmological beliefs, to convey information about past-life or karmic conditions.

Though there are debates on which hand is better to read from, both have their own significance. It is custom to assume that the left hands shows potential in an individual, and the right showed realized personality. Some saying about the significance goes as followed. "The future is shown in the right, the past in the left." "The left hand is the one we are born with, and the right is what we have made of it." "The right hand is read for men, while the left is read for women." “The left is what the gods give you, the right is what you do with it."

With all these saying however, only instinct and experience will tell you which is better to read in the end.

• Left The left hand is controlled by the right brain (pattern recognition, relationship understanding), reflects the inner person, the natural self, the anima, and the lateral thinking. It could even be considered to be a part of a person spiritual and personal development. It is the "yin" of personality (feminine and receptive).

• Right As opposites are, the right hand is controlled by the left brain (logic, reason, and language), reflects the outer person, objective self, influence of social environment, education, and experience. It represents linear thinking. It also corresponds to the "yang" aspect of personality (male and outgoing).

Depending on the type of palmistry practiced, and the type of reading being performed, palmists may look at various qualities of the hand, including the shapes and lines of the palm and fingers; the color and texture of the skin and fingernails; the relative sizes of the palm and fingers; the prominence of the knuckles; and numerous other attributes of the hands.

In most schools of palmistry, hand shapes are divided into four or 10 major types, sometimes corresponding to the Classicalelements or temperaments. Hand shape is believed to indicate character traits corresponding to the type indicated (i.e., a "Fire hand" would exhibit high energy, creativity, short temper, ambition, etc. - all qualities believed to be related to the Classical element of Fire).

Although variations abound, the most common classifications used by modern palmists:

• Earth hands are generally identified by broad, square palms and fingers, thick or coarse skin, and ruddy color. The length of the palm from wrist to the bottom of the fingers is usually equal to the length of the fingers.

• Air hands exhibit square or rectangular palms with long fingers and sometimes protruding knuckles, low-set thumbs, and often dry skin. The length of the palm from wrist to the bottom of the fingers is usually equal to the length of the fingers.

• Water hands are seeable by the short, sometimes oval-shaped palm, with long, flexible, conical fingers. The length of the palm from wrist to the bottom of the fingers is usually less than the width across the widest part of the palm, and usually equal to the length of the fingers.

• Fire hands are characterized by a square or rectangular palm, flushed or pink skin, and shorter fingers. The length of the palm from wrist to the bottom of the fingers is usually greater than the length of the fingers.

The number and quality of lines can also be included in the hand shape analysis; in some traditions of palmistry, Earth and Water hands tend to have fewer, deeper lines, while Air and Fire hands are more likely to show more lines with less clear definition.

for more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_reading

booooob cakes.

These egg shells are held together by lace garters that were carefully cut apart and sewn back together. Fake pearls serve as a cherry or a nipple, with pink puffy paint on top. The eight eggs sit on a silver platter I found at the thrift store. The pink holders are made from styrofoam egg cartons.

The eggs placed in a group of four pairs is meant to mimic the breasts of a pig. In most of my work, including this piece, eggs represent women. The "women" are decorated in lace and pearls and look almost edible.

Egg Sushi?

I made these sticks of sushi after i found some knitting needles at the thrift store. I decorated the eggs with paraffin wax, bath salts and puffy fabric paint. They're meant to look like little tarts but most people tell me they look like sushi.

Stall Talk, Undergraduate Research Grant

During my last year of college I had the opportunity to participate in an Undergrad research grant. Any student, from any college can write a proposal of why their project should be funded.

I used eggs to represent women and the red LED light to represent an incubator. Adhered to the inside of each egg is a comment left in a woman's restroom, also known as bathroom graffiti. These eggs are placed in a grid like pattern, there are nine rows, with twenty eggs in each row. The eggs are suspended on two layers of plexiglas that hangs on the wall.

These images were taken of the finished project at our collective BFA show.

Here are some excerpts of my thesis to help better explain the project:

"I had three main goals when conceptualizing and executing this project. By exposing and working with this found commentary my first goal was to start to unfold and understand a young woman’s experience in an attempt to fully appreciate all of our unique existences. At the same time I wanted to relish and indulge in the variety and complexity wrapped up in each comment. And lastly, I hoped that this exposure of personal writings would provide comfort to young women, the way it had for me."

"The commentary itself consisted of much variety but commonality at the same time. Some were confessions or secrets and others were just thoughts. Some were quotations from people such as Martin Luther King Jr., Ghandi and even The Bible. Overall, issues of religion, self-esteem, sexuality, relationships, loneliness, lack of purpose and struggles with depression were most rampant."

"The eggshell is simple at first glance. It's valued and recognized for its purpose, to protect and foster the potential young that grows inside of it. Eggshells house the means for new life. The eggshell is also self-sacrificing, giving up its perfect smooth shape in order to birth the young that has safely grown inside. After sacrificing itself during the hatching process, the eggshell is easily disposed of, forgotten, and seen as useless. Its value seems to go no further than its purpose. After the eggs are cracked and the soft insides are taken out of the eggshell, the egg takes on a completely different type of beauty. We can take it apart, disassemble it and truly appreciate the delicacy and beauty of the egg. The cracks, the malleable inner lining and texture all of sudden become more noticeable and appealing. The eggs are still beautiful, so beautiful in fact that they deserve to exist without their reproductive purpose.

Just like the commentary became gems and ornaments the eggshells did as well. At the very start of this project I began saving eggshells just as I did the bathroom commentary. I cracked them, cooked the innards and then carefully washed the inside walls of the eggshell in hot water. After they were carefully washed, I dried the insides, pieced the two halves together and wrapped them in saran wrap. By wrapping them in saran wrap, with all intentions of keeping them safe, they became a remnant or evidence of existence for that individual egg. This existence is similar, nearly parallel, to that of the bathroom writings. The eggs were then placed back into the carton that they came from. I made a point to treat these broken eggshells just as I would brand new eggs. Their importance may not be based on purpose but the importance still remained. The eggshells were just as important without their nutritional value. Before too long I had a mound of egg cartons filled with saran wrapped eggshells, objects that are not usually cherished.

The process of taking unacknowledged, but important commentary and saving it through photographs and handwritten lists is parallel to wrapping unwanted eggshells in an attempt to protect and save them. The eggshells and commentary are alike in nature, unwanted and usually easily discarded or erased.

I relate an egg’s existence directly with women, they are so wonderful and beautiful that they deserve to exist and live even when not meeting society's expectations or designated purpose. When a woman’s reproductive purpose is forgotten about, she becomes beautiful in her own individual way, allowing her to grow and live in her own fashion. When the eggshell has been parted from its original purpose it begins to exist for a whole new purpose, a purpose that is not based on reproduction or even potential nutrition. The eggshell begins to exist for itself, absent of value to anyone who might have used them before.

"My decision to house the commentary inside these broken and brittle eggshells was at first a mystery to me. I knew I valued the commentary for its documentation and I also knew that eggshells had a relationship to women. The combination of the two was a gap that I was trying to understand or define throughout this whole process. After understanding that both of the materials, the eggshells and the bathroom commentary, were both unwanted I realized that by placing them together I created new purpose and permanence for both.

By placing these bathroom stall quotes inside these broken egg shells the eggs become an incubator. The egg is giving the writing a place to be protected and housed. Each comment gives the egg new life, purpose and individuality. The eggshells are now reliquaries for this commentary, housing the delicate, scripted strips of paper. Because the conventional purpose has been taken away there is now new space for new purpose. The releasing of the insides begins a whole new reason for existence and along with that a new way of thinking. "

"For me it is essential that all commentary be accessible and readable to the viewer, not just me. The conceptual relevance of placing the commentary inside these eggshells would be lost if the writing was not legible or readable. My goals of unfolding and uncovering a young woman's experience and therefore appreciating a unique existence would no longer be possible for anyone else but me. Also, leaving these illegible would not have allowed the commentary to live as a comforting mechanism for others. Lastly, in order to appreciate this commentary and the variety and complexity it entails, the writing must be accessible. The readability was important but I also understood that providing this accessibility might diminish the aesthetics of the actual sculpture. To insure that this display would not compromise or combat the sculpture I decided to display the commentary in a very simple, small way. There are nine lists that hang in rows of three to the right of the sculpture. These nine lists represent the nine rows of eggs. Each row consists of twenty eggs and therefore each list corresponds with twenty quotations."

fat cat and a dirty floor