Power, Desire, Fetish, Obsession
This body of work references pop art, Celtic patterns, blackwork tattoos, fetish culture, street art, Byzantine paintings, and Gothic pilgrimage shrines. The figures float in an abstract space, engaging in detached contemplation, like inverted Byzantine figures that exist outside of time. Painting on woven brocade fabric rather than flat canvas adds another layer of otherworldliness; richly hued two dimensional painted patterns wander across the tiny hills and valleys of the three-dimensional weaving. There is no single image that can be definitively captured, as every turn of the head uncovers something different. It has always been exciting to see how art can transmute mundane objects (such as bones or entrails or cloth or paint) into something otherworldly.
Golden Lani Floating on Curry and Azure
Aerosol paint, stencil on brocade fabric.
40" x 60"
Golden Lani with Fake Flowers
Aerosol paint, stencil on wood and brocade fabric, found objects
24" x 36" x 4"
Red Gold Lani
Aerosol paint, stencil on linen tablecloth
Power
Power is used to shape experience by manipulating the scale of an image, as well as by translating an image or object from a familiar context to an unfamiliar one. A shrine controls power and acts as a mediator or link between a person in this world and something that has no physical existence. Street art techniques draw on oppositional power, as street art is associated with making art without permission, with forcing itself on the world.
Golden Lani Floating on a Bed of Lace
Aerosol Paint, Stencil on Found Distressed Wood
Love Burns: Steady/Bright
Aerosol paint, stencil on brocade fabric
40" x 72"
Shrine for Mary Krchma
Aerosol paint, stencil on brocade and wood, found objects
24" x 36" x 6"
Desire
Desire is expressed in the materials and elements of the artwork, foregrounding pleasure and sensuality; a sensuous object itself is of course desired. However, there is also an undercurrent of sensual desire as a lifestyle, showing up in the skin-like latex fabrics, the tattoo inspired patterns, the piercings, and the cropped bodies.
Claudio.b!!!
Aerosol Paint, Stencil on Canvas
Claudio.b!!!
Aerosol paint, stencil on brocade fabric and wood, found objects
Claudio.b!!!
Aerosol paint, stencil on brocade fabric
Fetish
Fetish is touched on in one of three contexts: in describing an object that focuses power, in describing an object that increases pleasure and desire, or in describing an object or activity that becomes an obsession. The images and objects in this show often move back and forth between each of these contexts.
Obsession
Obsession is reflected in the incessant markmaking, the never-ending patterns, and the repeated images at multiple scales. Shrines have traditionally invited obsession, demanding sacrifices of time to travel great distances, and sustaining themselves on the human hunger to associate with fetish objects (which might sound like something from a faraway land, but which also sounds a lot like going to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, buying a new cell phone).