PIXELATED TURNING POINT 2024
2024
40” x 65”
Assemblage of mousetraps set to snap shut, fasteners, wooden dowels, finials, gold leaf paint, and acrylic paint. Suspended from a black metal clothing rack.
Pixelated Turning Point 2024 is a powerful two sided interpretation of the American flag. The installation uses mousetraps and other materials arranged on a hanger-like frame to form the iconic stars and stripes. The composition hangs from a rolling industrial pipe structure, giving it a dynamic, ready to be triggered and transient quality. Poised for a change or not.
Side One: WE ARE. This piece maintains the stars and stripes design, with meticulously arranged elements forming the blue canton and the red and white stripes. The decision to hang the flag composition from a rolling industrial pipe structure imbues it with a sense of movement and potential reconfiguration, suggesting a transient and evolving state.
Side Two: WE MAY BE
Adding a visually striking contrast, the artwork incorporates a mirrored effect with a red field and white stars below. This dual representation is supported by a black metal stand, giving the piece a grounded yet dynamic presence.
This piece challenges viewers to rethink conventional interpretations of patriotism and identity. The familiar form of the flag draws attention, while the unexpected materials and presentation provoke a reevaluation of its meaning. The mousetrap elements, set to trigger, metaphorically represent the escalating stressors in contemporary American society, adding a layer of tension and urgency to the work.
The inspiration behind this artwork stems from the current tense and transient political climate in America, suggesting we are on the cusp of a major ideological shift. This is depicted through the second side of the piece, which offers a reimagined USA flag. This new design symbolically divides the country into red versus blue, reflecting potential outcomes of the 2024 presidential election
THE REVENGE OF ELLIS RULEY
2020
48” x 48” x 80”
A mixed media sculpture sized at 48” x 80”. A golden picture frame stands on a tripod-like base, serving as the central structure. Inside the frame, a collage showcases a variety of images and objects, including a tree branch, barbed wire, and a smaller framed artwork. The piece is mounted on a wooden tripod, with its central feature being a rectangular box subdivided into sections, each housing different objects and images. This assemblage includes elements such as miniature figurines, tools, and an American flag motif, creating a rich visual narrative.
The base, circular in shape, enhances the artwork's collage effect with newspaper clippings, photographs, and printed materials. Handwritten dates and words inscribed around the base add layers of storytelling and social commentary. This sculpture blends photography, assemblage art, and poignant social insights, resulting in a visually compelling and thought-provoking piece.
A pants leg and a black shoe, are suspended from the bottom of the frame to a circular depression in the base. This base is adorned with printed images and texts, creating a rich and visually complex backdrop.
Description:
"The Revenge of Ellis Ruley" is a mixed media sculpture, measuring 48” x 80”. The central structure is a golden picture frame on a tripod-like base. Inside, a collage featuring a tree branch, barbed wire, and a smaller framed artwork adds to the visual complexity. The frame sits on a wooden tripod, with a rectangular box divided into sections, each housing various objects and images like miniature figurines, tools, and an American flag motif. The circular base is detailed with newspaper clippings, photographs, and printed materials, along with handwritten dates and words that provide layers of storytelling and social commentary.
Suspended from the bottom of the frame are a pants leg and a black shoe, which descend into a circular depression in the base adorned with printed images and texts. The combination of photography, assemblage art, and poignant social insights makes this piece both visually compelling and thought-provoking.
The sculpture is inspired by Ellis Walter Ruley, an African American folk artist and laborer who faced significant racism. The work pays tribute to his colorful, powerful paintings and reflects his struggle and resilience. The creation process emphasized storytelling and evoked the world Ruley inhabited, capturing the historical and social context of early 20th-century America.
ALTAR PIECE
2020
66" x 42"
"Altar Piece" is a visual narrative of found objects sculpture measuring 66" x 42". Utilizing a diverse array of materials. Vase, cankered branch, shell casings, candles, nails, miniature figures, chair parts, decoupaged paper and iron work. Used wood and Acrylic paint on sheet metal combined with acrylic paint on sheet metal.
This collage-like piece is divided into three main sections, each presenting distinct but interconnected themes. The left section portrays an African-American individual holding a sign that reads "GIVE US AMERICAN RIGHTS," juxtaposed with another individual displaying a sign that says "GO HOME NEGRO."
The central section features two figures dressed in Ku Klux Klan (KKK) robes and hoods, positioned prominently in the middle. This stark imagery highlights the tension and racial conflict in the narrative.
The right section is an image os Hazel Bryan a young African American girl on her way to school, her eyes shielded by sunglasses. She is surrounded by a hateful crowd of angry white people, including a girl caught mid-jeer, her teeth bared and her face hardened with anger.
A primarily yellow background unifies the various sections, drawing attention to the work's serious themes. This piece reflects the artist's contemplation on the "altar of Racism," encapsulating historical and ongoing societal struggles.
Decorative elements such as ornate scrollwork and architectural details hover above these sections, symbolizing overarching societal issues
Sitting atop the three sections is a stylized chalice. The sculpture includes a silver chalice adorned with nails, with a Christ figure impaled on one of the nails to symbolize the intersections between white Christian nationalism and suffering. Atop the silver chalice, inverted ammunition casings support figures representing people of color.
The candle wax drips down, enveloping the figures, evocatively suggesting themes of oppression and resilience. This unique fusion of mechanical elements and profound symbolism creates an evocative, multi-layered artwork.
AS AMERICAN AS...
2024
42" x 32" x 40"
A mixed-media installation measuring 42" x 32” x 40”. It incorporates a range of materials, including a wooden cartridge case, cartridges, a digital print on metal sheet, painted wood trim, metal brackets and legs, tableware, an artificial pie slice, and artificial coffee. Miniature wooden fencing and grave markers. Wooden cartridge case, bullet cartridges, digital print on metal sheet, painted wood trim, metal brackets and legs, tableware, artificial pie slice and artificial coffee.
"As American As.... It incorporates a range of materials, including a wooden cartridge case, cartridges, a digital print on metal sheet, painted wood trim, metal brackets and legs, tableware, an artificial pie slice, and artificial coffee. Miniature wooden fencing and grave markers.
The installation integrates elements of a mid-century modern kitchen table and a vintage linoleum floor. The tabletop is arranged for a dessert of apple pie and coffee.
A World War II ammunition box frames the message, "I LOVE YOU" spelled out in brass bullet cartridges to introduce an emotive aspect to the piece. The table stands on metal legs and rests on a colorful vintage checkerboard-patterned floor platform. The platform features alternating yellow and red squares. The floor pattern consists of gun related imagery as design elements. Bullet chambers, telescopic sights, hearts and broken hearts.
This area is enclosed by a low, white picket fence, creating an intimate space that brings to mind the American dream of a yard with a white picket fence but cemeteries can have white fences as well. Sitting in rows on the floor are grave markers with the same shape reflected in the salt and pepper shakers on the table top.
This composition juxtaposes the domesticity of dining with a handcrafted artistic backdrop, seeming to evoke a sense of warmth and personal affection. The artwork explores the nostalgic and romantic vision of guns in the USA, combining symbols from the idealized American kitchen table to contrast the idyllic with the darker reality of gun violence. It aims to prompt reflection on society’s acceptance of idealized imagery, which often masks the harsher truths and generates wealth for industries perpetuating harm.
ACT NOW
2022
36" x 48"
The artwork, titled "ACT NOW," measures 36" x 48" and is a digital color print. It presents a chaotic and vibrant composition with multiple layers of imagery and text. Central to the piece are white chalk outlines of human figures, rifles, and handguns, interspersed with red numbered card icons commonly used at crime scenes. These elements are set against a blue mid-century modern design background featuring intersecting colored boomerang shapes, contributing to the overall sense of confusion and disorder.
A thick black border frames the central image, adorned with various vintage icons such as arrows, TV screens, and representations of guns. An additional bright yellow outer border contains bold red text that reads "ACT NOW" at the top, "POW-POW!" on the left side, "PA-PA-POW!" at the bottom, and "POW-POW!" on the right side. Against this yellow border, the phone numbers of United States Senators and the states they represent are displayed, creating a parallel between the imagery and direct action.
Combining visual elements of a map, crime scene outlines, and urgent textual commands, this artwork conveys a sense of urgency and disarray. It is designed to not only highlight the issue of gun control but also to encourage viewers to take immediate action by contacting their Senators.
TRUTH LIES, HONESTLY
2020
36" x 48"
Digital type treatment print on matte paper
The artwork is composed of three horizontal panels, each depicting the word "TRUTH" in different visual styles.
In the top panel, the word "TRUTH" appears in bold, stylized letters against a white background. The overlay of "LIES" in red and black creates a distorted visual effect. The middle panel features a black background with bold letters, where "LIES" overlays in red and white, adding to the composite and fragmented look. The bottom panel presents a red background with "TRUTH" in black, subtly fragmented.
The contrasting colors and overlapping texts produce a dynamic interaction between "TRUTH" and "LIES." This visual tension encourages viewers to contemplate the complex relationship between these opposing ideas.
Inspired by observations of mass media's impact on perceptions of truth, the artwork uses the juxtaposition of words to guide the viewer's eye from top to bottom, emphasizing the fluidity between truth and lies.
THE GUNNY AWARD
2023
25" x 36"
Found object sculpture made with wood, wire, acrylic paint, brass cartridges, small plastic figures and gold leaf paint.
The Gunny Award is a mixed media sculpture that combines geometric precision with chaotic fluidity. The lower part features a tall, elegant pedestal supporting a circular horizontal surface resembling a feasting Pac Man icon, created from meticulously arranged inverted cartridge casings. This forms a textured pattern.
Above this surface, the sculpture transitions into a downward sweeping explosion of gold-toned, miniature figures, fragmented men, women, and children. Intermingled within this chaos are three smaller Pac Man figures, gleefully consuming the human forms, adding dynamic movement toward the larger Pac Man icon.
The base of the pedestal is encircled with the text, "I'LL GRIND THEIR BONES TO MAKE MY BREAD," contrasting the orderly circular base with the wild array of fragments. The artwork evokes the tension between order and chaos, inspired by the outrage over gun violence and critiquing those who prioritize profit over people.
SONG OF THE LUDDITES
2022
46" x 38"
Digital print on paper, held within found objects frame.
Clay cuneiform tablets, hand stamped frame, a framed poem underneath and translation of the cuneiform tablets above. Textile tools.
The artwork, titled "Song of the Luddites," is a mixed media sculpture measuring 46” x 38”. At its core is a color print of a WWII metal stamping kit, enclosed within a wooden frame that features ornate, intricate details and sun motifs in the top corners. The image inside depicts metal stamps, a hammer, and a metal stamping block plate, with the phrase "Technology Kills The Mind" inscribed on it.
There is a frame within a frame construction for this piece. The outer second frame supports the other attached objects. Two vertical clay tablets (one on each side) are inscribed with a cuneiform translation of the framed statement at the top of the piece.
“The disease of the new Millennium, Obsession.
Obsession with self-image, obsession with estranging technologies.
The lower part of the outer frame is faced with a deconstructed vintage cigar box with imprints of a hand and copy pertaining to this container having been used for of hand rolled cigars. There are two weavers shuttles and a pair of fabric shears.
Hanging from the bottom of the frame is a print of a poem by Lord Byron titled “The Song of the Luddites” which was written about the Luddites. They were a secret oath-based organization of English textile workers in the 19th century who formed a radical faction which instigated riots and destruction of factory equipment. These were people opposed to technological change and to the introduction of new machinery in the wool industry that could be run by less skilled workers. The group is believed to have taken its name from Ned Ludd, a legendary weaver.
This piece juxtaposes traditional craftsmanship with a critical message about the impact of modern technology. It evokes nostalgia while prompting viewers to reflect on the relentless advancement of technology and its effects on human creativity and labor. The artwork draws inspiration from the 19th-century Luddites, textile workers who aggressively resisted technological change in the wool industry.
This push back on technology is relevant today and to some minds essential. The artist draws parallels to contemporary society, where digital technology increasingly dictates economic and social structures. The piece serves as a poignant commentary on the delicate balance between technological progress and the preservation of human ingenuity.
RENAISSANCE BOY
2020
16" x 20"
"Renaissance Boy" is a digitally designed color print. The piece features four mirrored portraits of a curly-haired boy, arranged symmetrically in a kaleidoscopic pattern. A vibrant turquoise background sets the stage for these stylized faces, each of which shares similar features but differs in the use of bold color blocks over the eyes. The top left face is accented with red, and the bottom right face with yellow, while the other two remain in shades of turquoise and black. The play of colors and symmetry creates a striking and visually engaging effect.
GOD IS BUSY
2022
22" x 26"
God is Busy is a mixed-media assemblage that combines collage and three-dimensional elements within a wooden frame. Central to the composition is a smaller, framed black-and-white image depicting historical or classical figures in various scenes. This smaller frame is slightly tilted and broken, adding a dynamic and fragmented feel to the piece.
In the foreground, a cut-out image of a person in an action-oriented pose appears to break through the surface of the artwork, overlapping the frame and extending beyond its boundaries. This creates a sense of movement and depth.
Below the central elements are fragments of shattered black surfaces, emphasizing themes of fragmentation and disruption. The artwork plays with space, movement, and historical context, combining different visual elements to create a layered and thought-provoking piece. Varying textures, from the smooth photographic fragments to rough broken edges, enhance the tactile quality of the work.