Vore Convent
Dimensions: 16.5″ x 20.5″
Medium: Oil on acrylic sheet panel
February 28, 2011
Saturn V
- Saturn V
Dimensions: 25.25″ x 33.5″
Medium: Oil on board
From Chaos, You enter my dreams like a river of piss, unbathed with an unclean mind. The rage of 10,000 dying lunatics cannot match your loathsomeness. You know the length of eternity, and eternity is your wait. My time is fleeting, but my love is not. O Father of Great Jupiter, Son of Uranus! Most Mighty Saturn, hear me!
In Hesiod’s Theogony, an account of the creation of the universe and Jupiter’s rise to power, Saturn is mentioned as the son of Uranus (the Greek equivalent of Roman Caelus), the heavens, and Gaia (the Greek equivalent of Terra), the Earth. Hesiod is an early Greek poet and rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BC. He writes that Saturn seizes power, castrating and overthrowing his father Uranus. However, it was foretold that one day a mighty son of Saturn would in turn overthrow him, and Saturn devoured all of his children when they were born to prevent this. Saturn’s wife, Rhea (often identified with the Roman goddess Ops), hid her sixth child, Jupiter, on the island of Crete, and offered Saturn a large stone wrapped in swaddling clothes in his place; Saturn promptly devoured it. Jupiter later overthrew Saturn and the other Titans, becoming the new supreme ruler of the cosmos. This was the end of the Golden Age of Man.
January 26, 2011
Vore
Vore
2007
Dimensions: 28 “x 40″
Medium: Stainless steel, epoxy resin plastination of dessicated apple and wood
“…For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.”
Jesus Christ; John 6:51-58
This sculpture is a juxtaposition of materials and a minor statement regarding the consuming of high technology (nature) to produce low technology (man-made). We need to look no further than a simple flower growing in the garden to witness technology beyond our understanding. The human machination of destroying one greater resource to produce a quantity of lesser commodities is truly equal to de-evolution (Devo), yet we do it relentlessly and without end. We cannot help ourselves from this lust, it is in our religions, it is in our DNA too apparently.
Had human beings and dinosaurs existed alongside one another, the extinct species would have certainly been systematically slaughtered and used for food and materiel by their human predators. There is no morsel on Earth and beyond that can escape the human desire to conquer, destroy and consume.
To create the web for this piece, I generated a CAD drawing that was then used to create a cutting path for a specialized high temperature laser that could cut stainless steel in the delicate pattern taken directly from a photograph of an orb weaver’s design. It would have been disingenuous for me to try to create a spider’s web of my own design, when the original is a flawless layout created over millions of years of natural evolution.
The part of the sculpture that represent the fragile and withering human form (biology) was made from dessicated apple flesh dried around a wooden skeleton, made from walnut and hickory branches. The parts were carved at about 200% larger than what they eviscerated to. Two part epoxy resin was then saturated into the dried apple flesh, creating a plastination of the materials. The technique is essentially the same used by the ancient Egyptians to preserve humans and other animals, however, they used natural resins rather than the synthetic epoxy that was used on this. The planned dehydrating of the apple sculpture produced a natural emaciated tautness that would be hard to plan and replicate via traditional sculptural means. It was my study in “planned chaos” using apples much like the american folk tradition of dried apple dolls. Ötzi (the Iceman), a natural mummy found in the German Alps in 1991, was referenced many times to look at where the dessication should be most pronounced. The natural discoloring of the apples and wood along with the glaze from the epoxy coating certainly looked remarkably similar to photos of the frozen corpse.
The piece was hung and observed for four years to ensure the archival quality had taken effect. Another use of dessicated/plastinated apples can be found in my other 2007 piece The Internet and Ol’ Putrefying Uncle Sam.
January 4, 2011
Uranus
Uranus
(2010)
Dimensions: 11″x14″
Medium: Graphite pencil, acrylic paint, spray paint, and bristol paper on canvas
(ll. 176-206) And Heaven (Uranus) came, bringing on night and longing for love, and he lay about Earth spreading himself full upon her.
Then the son from his ambush stretched forth his left hand and in his right took the great long sickle with jagged teeth, and swiftly lopped off his own father’s members and cast them away to fall behind him. And not vainly did they fall from his hand; for all the bloody drops that gushed forth Earth received, and as the seasons moved round she bare the strong Erinyes and the great Giants with gleaming armour, holding long spears in their hands and the Nymphs whom they call Meliae all over the boundless earth. And so soon as he had cut off the members with flint and cast them from the land into the surging sea, they were swept away over the main a long time: and a white foam spread around them from the immortal flesh, and in it there grew a maiden. First she drew near holy Cythera, and from there, afterwards, she came to sea-girt Cyprus, and came forth an awful and lovely goddess, and grass grew up about her beneath her shapely feet. Her gods and men call Aphrodite, and the foam-born goddess and rich-crowned Cytherea, because she grew amid the foam, and Cytherea because she reached Cythera, and Cyprogenes because she was born in billowy Cyprus, and Philommedes because sprang from the members. And with her went Eros, and comely Desire followed her at her birth at the first and as she went into the assembly of the gods. This honour she has from the beginning, and this is the portion allotted to her amongst men and undying gods, — the whisperings of maidens and smiles and deceits with sweet delight and love and graciousness.
Excerpt from The Theogony of Hesiod
(circa 700 BC)
Like much of my artwork, this piece has a three dimensional aspect to it. I used fire to alter the surface of the canvas, burning holes, charring the edges and curling the openings out toward the viewer. A form of destructive “action painting”, necessary in an attempt to illustrate the story of Mighty Uranus from traditional lore. It is believed that the Judeo-Christian god is directly derived from the Greek god Uranus (Roman named Caelus). I listened to this recording of sounds from NASA’s Voyager craft taken from EM waves of the planet Uranus and was completely taken away into the mythology…..I could hear a lonely anger, as if the planet was indeed alive.
All artwork is for sale, simply use the contact form at this website to initiate a purchase.
December 21, 2010
Viral Infection I (RGB): A new way forward
- viral infection I (RGB)
We have met our maker in the microscope, and it brings us illness, death and ultimately; life.
The Human Genome Project revealed that our bodies are essentially made up of shards of retroviruses. Our entire evolution, everything about us was chosen and then implemented by our viral masters to further their own existence. Do we love or are we merely fulfilling the ingrained commands to procreate and take care of future hosts (our loved ones/offspring)? They count on our ingenuity and persistence to survive comfortably. We are intelligent beings because they wanted us this way.
It is not symbiotic, as they have controlled our creation. They will exist with us or without us. We are their successful project.
I. Computer viruses: RGB
a. Sterile white sculpted acrylic.
b. Thickly poured glossy colors.
c. Large format all enveloping triptych (3-24″ x 48″ canvas panels)
Through misery we borne beauty
October 31, 2010
Bob Ross Rotting (Watercolor Study II) Prints
- Bob Ross Rotting (Watercolor Study II)
My 2007 watercolor study (version II) for Bob Ross Rotting is now available as a print via RedBubble.com. These very low cost prints have fantastic resolution and color reproduction. They are available in a variety of media including traditional archival paper, posters and even canvas. The link to purchase is here.
October 20, 2010
Upcoming exhibition; Damned III in Detroit, MI
My Post-Mortem Self Portrait (2010) artwork (charcoal, pencils, pens, oil, acrylic) will be on public display for the first time on October 28-30, 2010 within a group exhibition Damned III in Detroit, Michigan (USA) at the Tangent Gallery / Hastings Ballroom, 715 E Milwaukee St, Detroit, MI 48202. The timing of the show is to coincide with the infamous “Devil’s Night” in Detroit, where rioters and arsonists began the slow, destruction of the once thriving metropolis.
To fully understand this phenomenon, one simply needs to drive through Detroit (city) on a clear day. The cityscape is both heart-wrenching, and at times, almost absurdly humorous. Entire city blocks missing, just grass, trees and building foundations used as inter-city gardens. Unemployment is estimated to be at around 50%, yet money still flows freely among some and certain businesses continue to thrive. The artists and entertainers have always been a great export for Detroit and that tradition is alive and well there today still.
Though my art is in the tradition of Absurdism/Pessimism, the theme of the exhibition is “Introspective” and this piece certainly falls into that realm. I am not an outsider artist because of training, however some of my mediums and topics do fall outside of traditional formula. An exhibition of both regional, national and international artists, this is my second year participating in the show and one that I did not want to miss because it is simply entertaining to be at.
The artwork was thoroughly explained in a previous entry <here>. The concept went through many iterations over the years until I finally settled on this one as being the closest thing to what I was seeing in my mind. It continues to be a popular search on this website, and revealed to me the staggering amount of people curious about the putrefaction of a human body. I always thought of this work as more clinical or silly and not a “horror” piece, hence the complete avoidance of black. It can be distressing to accept that we and everyone we will ever know will, if left to nature, transform into a vile smelling, garish colored mess. Sometimes when I look into a mirror, I can imagine the areas within my likeness that will change dramatically after death. Being caucasian, my skin and mucous membranes will adapt the greenish color due to bacteria and blood will pool in my extremities as gravity assists. Tardeau’s spots (broken capillaries) will form throughout my body as radial striations of blood. Ocular changes will include my cornea becoming cloudy within a few hours, and the conjunctiva will become dark. The lips begin to dessicate quickly and shrink “open” to expose the teeth (stitching the lips is a requirement of embalming because of this).
Of course all of this is just the scribblings of an artist. Death is the great equalizer, I do not dwell on it in my daily life but I like to use it in my art to counter the bombardment of aesthetic ideals from commercial advertising.
I am planning on having five signed archival giclee prints of my Bob Ross Rotting Watercolor I (2008) available there for sale at only $40 ea. as well. See you there friends!
October 8, 2010
Venus
- Venus
The God of Love and Nature….sexual desires and fertility. This painting is among my five Classical Roman Gods/Planets. She had shown so brightly this past summer (2010) in the evening sky, almost to the point of being distracting. I spent a lot of time just gazing at her as did the ancients who associated her with the goddess Venus (Aphrodite in Classical Greek) . The second planet from the Sun, it is a very different world from that of love and life with temperatures at a constant 900 F globally, and pressures 92 times that of Earth. It is believed that it rains sulphuric acid from the perpetual cloud cover that blankets the planet.
It was the abandonment of religion and superstitions in favor of science and reason that brought the western world out the dark ages and into the Renaissance (14th Century). The great minds and artists of the day looked back to cultures that were not bound by faith in their quest for higher knowledge; ancient Greece and Rome. The Gods that play out in the mythological dramas had great appeal to the artists from the Baroque. Venus was the daughter of Jupiter (5th planet from Sun) lover of Mars (4th planet from Sun) and was venerated with cult status from ancient right on through to modern times.
My classic gods had to be hermaphrodites. How else would they represent us all? The five paintings are charcoal, pencils, pigment pens, spray paint, watercolors, and acrylic paints/mediums on canvas.
September 10, 2010
The Thermometer (My Epiphany)
The Thermometer
During a period of my life in the mid 1990′s, I believed that learning the methodology, theory and practice of the Old Masters was tantamount to being an artist. I spent many hours pouring over small oil, thin-glazed paintings on wooden substrates usually involving a religious theme. Though much knowledge was gained in anatomy, painting techniques and materials, the work never “felt” right. At some point, the reality and absurdity of the idea hit me like a lead weight upside my head. Figurative or realistic art created post-camera (1840), is completely silly for many reasons. A mechanical photographic reproduction is better for that, and is every bit art. To the naysayers, I call on you to go back to horse-and-buggy rather than automobiles if ”craftmanship” is truly your belief. Besides, the Old Masters used a camera obscura device to aid and create their art (hence the great shift in anatomical accuracy from Giotto to Vermeer). If realism is what you want, then look not toward a painter today but to film and digital cameras, motion pictures (now in digital 3-D!), computer graphics, or even three-dimensional laser scanners to create 2-D or 3-D reproductions of your exact likeness (at any scale!).
I, like most viewers of these Baroque masterpieces, was drawn into the power and seduction of the art. They were created at a time before cameras or cinematography, they were the all-encompassing visual medium. But that time has long past. After some introspection, the work had no real relevance to anything in my life, as I was not a religious person nor have I ever seen people standing around in the ridiculous poses as the subjects within these paintings (think Raphael). The art that initially grabbed me as a child was not these figurative Renaissance works, but the paintings by Picasso, Bacon, Duchamp, Pollock and Warhol plus many others that understood the role of art in a post-photographic world.
All this brings me to the aforementioned work The Thermometer. Originally painted in 1998, this small oil on board painting had no real use to me. Many of these Baroque knock-offs I created during this period were discarded or defaced (ie: swastikas on foreheads or corpsed) then discarded. This one survived after a long period when I did not create art, so was given a second chance as art, completely as a mockery of its uselessness. The painting was inverted and refitted with a “dollar store” thermometer to have a purpose.
