projects
RELIQUUS
installation view from Reliquus
Reliquus is a non-linear visual narrative of how art makes art, an installation of shadow boxes paying homage to artists who have directly impacted my artistic practice. Borrowing from works of art I admire, I steal source materials and visual language with abandon. Mimicking inherent artistic styles and modes of production, I reauthor these artworks imbuing each with something personal; a lock of hair, a keepsake, a milestone or memory of personal significance and importance. In so doing I engage in a coalesced conversation - making public the intimate dialogue an artist has with another artist’s artwork - a place where conceptual ideas are discovered and assimilated. These boxes are created in pairs: one box acting as a physical and conceptual construction wherein I interact with a specific artist’s artwork. The second, through the use of text, recapitulates the influence the artwork has had on my practice. Together, these didactic couplings attempt to make private moments public as I engage with artworks I revere. The outcome is a co-authored visual diary - a personal reliquus.
Boy Toys
from Knowing Is Half the Battle
Boy Toys investigates the intersectionality between sexuality and identity these images reenact moments of innocent youthful play while raising questions about accepted heteronormative behaviors. A collection of ersatz human forms are used to question ideas of masculinity, sexual orientation, and the dynamics of power. Groupings of images address a variety of formal and conceptual concern; Contortions position the plasticized figure in provocative poses while confining the forms to the geometry of the photographic frame, Boys Will Be Boys deconstructs symbols of war and violence as playthings and Knowing is Half the Battle subverts overtly masculine action figures by placing them in homoerotic positions.
Infinite Archive: Starlight Park
Schematic Drawings for Starlight Park
This interactive project invites Starlight Park visitors to re-enact the open air dances once hosted in the park. Using native plants to physically demarcate the perimeter of the dance floor and as conceptual framing, this installation utilizes stone to mimic the parquetry of a central medallion often found in grand ballrooms at the turn of the 20th century. Memory and history are intertwined through a fragmentary reconstruction, referencing what once was and what has been forgotten. Additionally, the use of native plants pays homage to indigenous societies and contemporary issues related to ecological concerns.
Infinite Archive: NYPL Project
The art collective, Infinite Archive, curated the exhibition to include artists working across a wide spectrum of media. The pieces range from paintings, prints, photography, assemblage as well as wood, metal and ceramic sculpture in response to fiction, non-fiction, periodicals, and prints in the NYPL’s collection. The breadth of artwork reflects the broad nature of the Library’s holdings.
Responding directly to literary works, each artwork presents a complex dialogue between the artist and the selected text. Housed within a vintage card catalog, visitors are encouraged to discover varied artworks as they open each drawer. Many artworks include interactive elements, such as solving a puzzle, exploring a maze or unfolding an abstract painting.
My contribution entitled ‘The Fondest Wish’ was inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's book, The Tale of King Midas & The Golden Touch.
Infinite Archive: MJM
Responding to the unique history, archives and architecture of Morris-Jumel Mansion three artists (Patrick Perry, Sarah Rowe and Rachel Sydlowski) reinterpreted archival objects into a site-specific installation. Ceramic objects, jewelry and artists’ books presented a visual interpretation based on different areas of research by each artist. This shifting focus addressed how histories drift over time and how certain historical narratives become prominent while others recede into obscurity.
A series of heavily etched wearable objects constructed of sterling silver created by Patrick Perry are a direct response to the handwritten letters between Eliza and her husband Stephen Jumel. The archival letters reveal an accretion of private exchanges, ranging from the quotidian to the intimate. Perry has chosen to pay homage to these intimate written exchanges by etching fragments of the letters directly onto silver. The material shift from pen and ink to metal raises questions about impermanence and indelibility and public and private lives.
Soft Blows
This body of work is linked to a concept known as ‘subversive cross-stitch’, which involves more risqué designs, often fusing traditional cross-stitch design with a vernacular that shocks and is incongruous with the old-fashioned, more aesthetic use of cross-stitch. The juxtaposition of beautiful patterns with grossly pejorative language explores a complex and dynamic wave of seduction and repulsion; the gravitational orbit around each piece varies among viewers forced to explore their own feelings of attraction, comfort, disgust, and guilt.
The Lost Ring Project
The Lost Ring Project was an interactive work created as a performance piece. The entire performance was based on happenstance - the chance a person would find one of my handcrafted rings, improperly stamped 14 karat gold. When polished the ring imitated gold, almost flawlessly. These rings were strategically scattered in high profile areas in various cities, with the hopes of their return. Individuals needed to find not only the ring, but also find one of my posters/ads asking for its return, then initiate contact with me, a complete stranger. The work was an attempt to extend contact between me and the world, moving my art into the community, thus pushing the limits of the art audience. This radical departure enabled me to move my practice away from traditional museums and galleries, bringing both client and venue into a critical mass - the general public.
Cities included: Portland, ME - New York City, NY - Halifax, NS - Quebec City - QC, Montreal, QC- Toronto, ON, & Ottawa ON
(Re)membering
Remembering, an on-going project, exploring boundaries of what can be considered jewelry. In this work I find individuals with permanent scars on their bodies, usually scars with an unfavorable memory. I transform these scars into objects of contemplation/beauty by gold-leafing their subtleties. The result is a visual transformation into a form of wearable art/jewelry. The photographic images are a way of memorializing the transformative event. I have completed 15 of these transformations to date. A solo exhibition was mounted and included large-scale prints of the transformations (7 feet by 3 feet) and a symphony of voices (audio recordings of the participants) remembering the day the event occurred - which plays ambiently in the installation environment.