building the my lair.

stacking

dragging the skeletons out of the closet.

making a nest out of their bones.

*******

...

...

......

...

...

...

...

...

slashings and trappings

working on resolving some "display issues"- trying to both hone and open up the narrative- to set a  stage but not tell any particular story.
this time, the chair will be shown facing the wall (on which will be mounted a mourning embroidery from the museum's collection). the wall is to be partially obscured by a slashed window sheer which will hang at a short distance from it - situated across the lap of the chair, the curtain is cut to ribbons - with longer, wider slits framing a vignette toward the center. the view through the curtain would be best accessed if one was to be seated in this (inaccessible) chair- the side views are obsolete because the curtain will hang across the opening to an inset in the gallery wall. .
the same curtain sheers were used to create the little bombs that carry the broken china set. 

i've incorporated some of the window sheer scraps into these weepers

Frank is suspicious of the aura.

working out the details..-
 the (cut to ribbons) window shear will be hung across the top of the opening of
an inset in the wall of the gallery.
the inset is approx. 4'wide x 1.5'deep-
so the curtain would be about a foot closer to the wall behind it
on which will be hung
a mourning embroidery from the museum's collection.
(got that?)

***************

Also, I started the bear trap "replica":

paper mache victorian snaggletooth
in process...

raiding my own pantry

In the collection of Historic Northampton, there is an iron beartrap made by a local blacksmith. I've been wanting to incorporate this image into my upcoming show. My initial impulse was to have it interacting with an empty fur-collared coat (one of many that have been handed off to me- this one belonged to my maternal grandmother). I wanted to convey some menace, struggle, but... also ascension and near by-the-skin-of-one's teeth escape. I've animated the garment in a way that I feel relates somewhat to clumsy storefront displays (something's just not quite right- and one of the hands is missing a thumb...) and have it struggling to grasp a line of tied-together baby dresses (also of my family lineage) . I was planning to have the coat just barely ensnared, hanging just above a replica of the trap...
I couldn't figure out what this "ladder" (as in tied together sheets a damsel might fashion out of her bedding and either escape out the window or commit suicide by means of hanging herself with) is attached to/ leading to.
And then,
I decided to raid my own pantry- like a bear looking for honey, I put my fist in the hornet's nest.
Or something.
I haven't decided if the beartrap will actually interact directly with this element, or if this is its mirror.

and then there's this:

frank is all business all day every day

this with that

odious tedious fungus

Expanding on the project "Repeat", I'm creating a new texture that creeps over the walls. 

Like an ivy. Like an illness. 

A joyously weeping wound constructed of pieced together fragments of memory I can't get to.

Because it isn't mine. Because it wouldn't have me anyway.

"repeat" refers to both cyclical nature of history
 and
to the length of the pattern in the fabric
 before it repeats again..

cut-out upholstery fabric pieced back together
in a less-constrained manner

working in some fragments of an afghan
my great-grandmother crocheted. we have never met.
it reeks of mothballs. 

with a touch of trademarked red felt viscera 

 much work to do in the cutting and pasting world...much productive stillness in the studio in weeks to come. i welcome the company of story-tellers and nimble-fingered friends... and netflix.

                                                         (and frank)................

thanks, little dude. you are truly the best studio-mate.

 And- here's some other curiosities from my workbench:

broken dishes 

Diagram A collage under waxed paper

that's my sentiment, exactly.

                                             (* I'M ALWAYS REPEATING MYSELF*)

I'm preparing for a show at Historic Northampton in September. 

I'll be reworking some older pieces 

and making some new images and objects. 

The piece, titled "Legacy Strike" 

will interface articles from the museum's permanent collection 

with items which I have inherited from relatives. 

I'll be creating new narratives that exploit 

and explore my complicated relationship 

with my family, and by extension- 

these objects.

here come the bombs!

escape ladder made from dresses my mother and maternal aunt wore as infants

missiles/sinkers

containing shards of a broken china set i receieved in the mail from my mother

working things out in the studio

phantom....

rocketeer cranks out the goods