Sculpture
Sculpture has always been one of my favorite mediums for art. I often create larger pieces, with paper mache being my favorite type of sculpture.
This was my first sculpture using Migg welding. The assignment was to create an "impossible chair." I chose to represent this concept with a chair that was both impossible to sit in and displays and act almost impossible to deal with. The words are meant to show some common things said to survivors of rape and sexual assault by their attacker or others, words that survivors may start to believe. The impossibility in that is the ax, which portrays the final confrontation and dismissal of the victim-blaming that is so common even today. The words were cut into the chair back using a plasma cutter.
This was my first welding project. It was based on Ingres' painting, "La Grande Odalisque." I turned the painting into a gas-welded line art sculpture.
This yard-tall paper mache sculpture is based on the myth of "Leda and the Swan." In the myth, a woman Leda is either seduced or raped by Zeus, a Greek god who has taken the form of a swan. Leda later gives birth to his twins, as well as her (human) husband's twins. I created this piece to draw attention to the question of a woman's right to her own body. No matter whether Leda is read to have given in willingly to Zeus or not, who could really say no to a womanizing god's desires? Leda is forced to carry the children of her attacker, losing her power over her own physical self. As a result, I wrapped her in chains, with a baby swan at the end. To further show her lack of control over her physical circumstances, I showed Leda actually turning into a swan, as her all-too-human eyes stare out in resignation, a state worse than the initial fear she must have faced. I show a woman who has given up on all chances of escape, and who has decided to make the best of how her life has turned and raise her children.
This Boston terrier was sculpted using air dry clay and painted with acrylics. He is about 4"x8"x3".
This literary shadow box was made to depict John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath." Over a dozen layers of paper were used to create depth.
In this piece, I take on the theme of gender roles. Here, a woman dips her male partner backwards, a move requiring mutual trust. She has a the power here, but it is willingly given, not taken.
I made this mixed media piece out of an old printer, a fish mobile, and some other odds and ends. It is a juxtaposition of nature and technology, with the fish swimming through--and getting tangled in--the wires. A lone test tube lies against the motherboard, questioning if science can bridge the gap between natural and unnatural. The buttons on the printer make the fishes' eyes, the top of the printer settles on the ocean floor, and the circuit board echoes an underwater plant.