This body of work is a further exploration of a tape mural installed at Testsite, ATX in 2003. In fact, pieces of the same mural are incorporated into the heavily layered translucent surfaces resembling frozen confetti. Pressure sensitive tape, stickers, paper, and ribbon are used to color and pattern the different thicknesses of cardboard composite. Chunky 3-dimensional rainbows, clouds, shards, and mountains are some of the subject matter crudely rendered with materials available in daily life. These themes are re-imagined from countless 80's pop culture re-incarnations. They re-occur in a billion mirrored blog backgrounds. They take from the constant shifting and dispersal of musical genres like 8-bit, lo-fi, discumbia, dub-step...forms of music/visual culture also created from heavily effected, found materials/samples. And lastly, the compositions arise from my life-long training as a naturalist. Whether it be Texas thunderstorms with triple rainbows, birdfeeder hierarchies, plants that flourish in 110 F, or that chatoyance can be used to describe silk or gemstones, I can always count on being delighted and inspired by the living world around me. I have always used
reclaimed materials. The challenge of recognizing and experimenting with
humble sources allows me to make art more naturally and with fewer limitations.
Typically, an artist's basic living skills are honed to live within their
means, make do with less, and think harder and smarter about how to use
what is leftover. Especially when economic pressures daunt forward plans
and productivity, artists can more freely break rules and make things
up in order to satisfy their basic creative instincts.
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