Sad, Quiet and Loaded
The work in my BFA Exhibition, Sad, Quiet, and Loaded, evolved from my thinking about the way in which we individually and collectively protect our young, and the futility of managing risk inherent in the act of parenting. It was driven both by personal experience and the humanitarian crisis in Syria.
Year
2016
Not Everything That Counts Can Be Counted: May 22 - August 19, 2016
I created a plaster press mold of a large plastic egg from which I hand built porcelain eggs. For each of the 90 days leading up to my daughter’s departure for her first year of college, I created an egg and date-stamped it. I epoxied my nipples cast in porcelain to cover the holes in the ceramic eggs. The still life is a reflection on, and perhaps interrogation of, the arc of my parenting experience.
2016 Porcelain and mixed media 23 x 54.5 x 38 in
Not Everything That Can Be Counted Counts: August 20 – November 17, 2016
This work is a companion piece to “Not Everything That Counts Can Be Counted.” For each of the 90 days after my daughter left for college, I created an egg and date-stamped it. The porcelain eggs are hollow and whole. The work marks a life transition and serves as a comparison between the days before my daughter’s departure, and those days that came afterward.
2016 Porcelain 28 x 12 x 28 in
Untethered and Untenable: September - November 2015
This is an interactive work. I cast life vest buckles in bronze. Viewers were told that they could choose a life vest buckle from the wall to take with them, with the expectation that they would donate $17.00, the equivalent cost of a child’s life vest, to Lighthouse Relief. The work was created as a response to the dire circumstances Syrian refugees face. Nearly two children drown each day crossing the Mediterranean Sea while fleeing war, according to the international aid group Save the Children. Many refugees are unable to purchase life vests for the journey, and many others are sold poor quality life vests that are not seaworthy. The buckles represent the 162 children who drowned in September, October and November 2015. Lighthouse Relief is a non-governmental organization registered in Sweden. For refugees arriving on the Greek island of Lesvos, the operations provide a safe place where the needs of children are met through play, informal education, and psychosocial support services.
2016 Bronze 84 x 24 in
Tragedy Porn: Bodrum, Turkey (nos. 1-3) - September 2, 2015
Three-year-old Alan Kurdi drowned and washed ashore near Bodrum, Turkey on September 2, 2015. His mother and brother also died, trying to make it safely to Greece by boat from Turkey after fleeing Syria. His father said the family could not afford life vests. In a disturbing reminder of inequity, I had a child’s life vest delivered to my front porch within two days through Amazon. I created three molds from the life vest, and slip cast the parts in porcelain. During the process I began to question my own exploitation of tragedy for art. The work seeks to explore our fascination with and detachment from or objectification of the people affected by this humanitarian crisis.
2016 Porcelain, glaze, canvas, and vitrine 16 x 18 x 18 in (each)