a girl's work

Welcome to my second blog, although it could be my first.

Another little spot of my stuff.  This is what I did before.

Feeling Fashionable in Seventh Grade

A funny fashion drawing from 7th grade.

She looks pretty snooty and my handwriting is hilarious, kind of a blend of calligraphy and graffiti.

2 Drawings

I thought I'd throw these in here since they seemed to belong somehow.  Drawn in 2002.

Lamb Cloud

 

Mayor's Art Show, September 2003

Lamb Cloud is seven feet high by six feet long.  The upper cloud was made of vintage wood embroidery hoops tied together with clear swimsuit elastic, and the lower cloud was actually made of childrens underwear, stuffed with polyfil.  Parents out there will recognize the outrageous graphics the underwear companies are printing onto our childrens' underthings.  Swimsuit elastic strung with opalescent plastic pony beads attached the upper cloud to the lower one.

People were a little confused by this one and I did get a lot of interesting questions asking why I used childrens underwear.  I thought it was strange that people were far more concerned by the fact that the underwear had been used to make the cloud instead of the fact that these underwear were out in the marketplace being sold for children to wear.  It is shocking how many of the boys underwear have references to military weapons and fighting, and the girls underwear that compares girls to felines.  I think a lumpy, ugly cloud is a more appropriate use for these garments then for them to be worn by children.  I can't even imagine some of these graphics appearing on the outside of kids clothes, it is as if the underwear companies are taking advantage of the fact that the garments are hidden when worn.

American Refugee

American Refugee speculated about a massive northern migration of Americans to Canada spurred on by the convergence of extreme weather events, a poor economy, and a shortage of affordable oil.  We staged American Refugee as a show on the street during the Earth Day Celebration, April 19, 2003 in downtown Eugene, Oregon with the help of three friends.  Alan, Ari and I played the parts of the American Refugee Family, our S.U.V. stuffed with personal belongings parked on the street in downtown Eugene at a barricade to the Canadian Border. 

 Please forgive the blurr - these are enlarged video stills

We had just learned that the Canadian Border was officially closed after the car that was ahead of us in line had been allowed to cross the border into Canada.  Two of our friends played the parts of the two Canadian Border Police, while another friend wore a newspaper bag and distributed The Daily Herald to spectators passing by.

 We were very angry at the closing of the border and spent an hour arguing with and cajoling the two Canadian Border Police.  Eventually we realized the situation was not going to change and we reluctantly left. 

 While all this was going on a monitor close to our S.U.V. played the Rest Area Interview of the American Refugee Family taped several days prior to our arrival at the border.  The Rest Area Interview video was taken by a fellow traveler headed north, who was also looking for a better life and prospects.  In the interview we talked about the events in our hometown that led to our decision to abandon our foreclosed home, and our arduous journey through Oregon and Washington on the way to the Canadian border.

More Stuff

Princess Wheel, January 2004

Photo's above taken for me by Joe Davis and photo below taken for me by Bill Bachhuber.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lotus Communion, 2002

The Craft Center

Before I took sculpture classes at the University of Oregon I spent a year making clay things at the wonderful Craft Center at the U of O.  Any community member can buy a special pass and use the Craft Center to work in one of their studios. 
 Cubist Bowl, 2001
 Tulip Vase, 2000
Ceramics, glass, metalsmithing/jewelry, woodworking, fiber arts and photography studios are available and make a great place to relax and get something done.

School

'Sleep' made in Spring 2002 out of compressed and molded lint.

'Compass' made in Spring 2002, cast plaster from a rubber mold.

I attended three excellent sculpture classes taught by Professor Amanda Wojick, at the University of Oregon, starting in the fall of 2001.  Under her instruction I made sculptures I feel proud of.

   

I don't know what to call this one it was part of a family of sculptures made out of masking tape for sculpture class in the fall of 2001.

So I'll leave this strange fetish object sculpture hanging here at the end of this post. 

'Remote Control Woman' made in the Spring of 2002 out of painted plaster and T.V. remote control parts.  Photo taken for me by Joe Davis.

Remote Control Woman is made out of plaster cast from a rubber mold and contains actual remote control parts so that pushing the buttons feels like holding a real remote control without it actually working.  It made me laugh when I was making it, it reminds of something you might see in a Mad Magazine fake ad for something teenage boys would seriously consider buying (on a payment installment plan) to try to control the females around them.

Toobs with Food

Yes, these vinyl tubes are filled with carnival foods like ketchup, mustard, bacon bits, lemon pie filling.  (These photo's were taken for me by Bill Bachhuber).

 

Squeezing any food into a 1/4" vinyl tube is a test of strength.

2002

 

Bottles Redux

You would think that I might have given up at this point, it seemed as if the bottle idea was pretty exhausted.  But I had 4,000 of these things looming in my garage and I had to figure out some way to do something with them.

Bottle Tree, September 2002

At the time I was also experiencing a tree fixation, so the two got combined beyond making small grids.  I had to find a tree small enough to be able to tie the bottles to the branches easily and the tree had to be in a public place which would not cause any trouble.

 

With the help of a small band of good friends, we put a little water in each bottle and hung the bottles carefully using thick fishing line.  You definitely need more than one set of hands to get this kind of project done.  The tree lives on a windy slope and when the bottles were hanging in the tree the wind passing over them made a hollow singing sound.  I made a short film of this tree and the bottles and you can hear them making the singing sounds in the distance as you walk up to them.  I left the bottles up for 2 weeks and then carefully removed them and the fishing line.