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"Santa Has Left the Building” 2009
Mixed Media with vintage Christmas items
My sister’s restaurant was called the Cup and Saucer. During the ten years she was running her business, she didn’t just burn the candle at both ends. She burned it from all sides at once. Famous for her holiday cookies, she worked especially hard each year before Christmas. It was her passion and her life. She was deeply and secretly saddened when she had to close the restaurant last year.
This piece is based on a vintage NOMA electric light and box. The plastic Santa shell had melted away, leaving only the metal backing and an electric candle which still worked until I cut the cord.
We lost my sister in November to a sudden liver ailment. Now her spirit has been released to fly like a bird “over the rainbow.” All that is left is a hole in our family and a shadow across the chair where she sat. Our lives have been turned inside out.
Goodbye, Cindy.
Exhibited at the Brickton Art Center Park Ridge, IL January 16-February 20, 2010
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"Never Can Say Goodbye" 2008
Mixed Media with vintage Christmas items
I make art for therapy and magic. I made this piece because I needed to introduce flow into my life.
Anxiety disorder and ADHD run in my family. I believe I have borderline Hoarding Disorder along with my Anxiety Disorder. I am a compulsive shopper with Obsessive Christmas Disorder. I spend a lot of time at estate sales and flea markets.
This woman was helping with her mother’s moving sale. I picked up these worn animal figures. “You’re selling those?” She cried to her mother. I asked if she wanted to keep them. I offered more money. She wanted her mother to keep them for her. There was no place in her crowded life to keep them safe. “Just don’t sell them on Ebay” she said.
One of the reasons people give for hoarding is to remember. In our memory, the glitter is brighter than on the actual cheap, worn goods from Japan or China. This piece is styled after paper houses from the 1940’s and 50’s. Unsafe, imperfect, the real glass glitter can wound.
Christmas at my mother’s house is always special but very intense. All the children, grandchildren are present. I have only missed one Christmas in 51 years, but I choose to live apart. The contrast between the intimacy of the family Christmas and my daily life is sometimes too much to bear.
There are other stories, but they are best left to the language of symbols for now.
Goodbye.
Exhibited at the Greenleaf Art Center , Chicago December 5, 2008-January 9, 2009
"Dowry” 2007
Mixed media with doll
12”W x 14”H x 1”D
I told this doll that “she could look like a million bucks if she just fixed herself up.” In dressing her, I meditated on the meaning of culturally defined sexual attractiveness.
Throughout history, the dowry she came with set a woman’s value. In some cultures coins were hung on the bridal costume. Virgins were prized to insure inheritance lines. Minor girls were sold to wealthy suitors. Bound feet and genital mutilation made young girls a more suitable match. Forced marriages and bride prices imply physical control not only over a woman’s body, but also her whole life experience. As with slavery, the violence is implied, only used when the individual refuses to play the dictated role.
In modern times, white gowns, debuts, and Quinceanera are but faint reflections of these ancient customs. Today, our worth is often set by our superficial attributes. We look in the mirror and adjust our self worth based on what we see there.
Exhibited at the Future Studio Gallery through Saturday, September 29th, 2007
