Remembering the moment, my sweethearts eyes met mine, is the inspiration for this series.
INFATUATION: That magical moment when ones operating systems go haywire; the body then, in it’s desperate attempt to restore order, sends an army of endorphins to the rescue. Time disappears and it’s just the two of you.
I have to laugh thinking about those days, we couldn’t get enough of each other. From the bedroom to kitchen to the garden, we were Infatuated.
It was then I began imagining and creating these little “get away pieces”. My earlier work, the “MAKE LOVE NOT WAR COLLECTION” was a study of shape and form in its relation to the human body. Research and development was essential part of the process and many hours were spent experimenting with different shapes and prototypes. I must say that over the years I have become quite fond of this aspect of my work.
My light bulb moment occurred when I was first introduced to the work of Georgia O’Keeffe. Her flower paintings were my Epiphany! So alluring so seductive so beautiful So…………… PERFECT to cradle my lover.
Although that revelation was sweet, the reality was I didn’t know how I was going to do it! Wood was my primary medium, and the only way I could perceive creating what was in my minds eye; is that somehow, a huge ten foot diameter chunk of redwood would find its way to my door. At the same time I was beginning my largest sculpture to date, a mixed media sculpture of car tires, straw bales, sandbags, and eighty tones of adobe. This ended up being a massive undertaking with my best friend and sweetheart, and finally after twenty summers this sculpture is our home and studio. Somewhere in this same space and time I gave up on trying to do flowers out of wood and began looking for alternatives.
The only alternative I was aware of at the time was fiberglass, and I really hated the thought of playing with it! But I did anyway, desperate to create the vision I had years before. Red Iris 1999 was the first subject of the series. I subcontracted all the nasty stuff, like spraying fiberglass. Thought I could do the Jeff Koon’s thing and hire artists to do my work. That didn’t work out so well for me! I ended up grinding on it for a month to bring it back into shape. Lesson learned. Now only my hands will touch the piece! My search for the perfect medium continued. It was some years later that a friend introduced me to Chris Dixon of Chris Dixon studios. Chris used epoxy clay in most of his creations. He gave me some to play with and I fell in love with this medium. Although it is more costly, and it ends up being a much slower process, I feel that it is far superior to fiberglass, in it’s UV, thermal and weather resistant qualities and will be used to create the Infatuation series.
Ménage à trois, first in the series, is a four thousand hour study of epoxy clay and the liberation from the limitations of wood stone and steel, allowing me to create what I could only dream of before.
Although Ménage à trois was photographed outside, it is strictly a inside installation! it’s dimensions 5′ highest point, 10′ across the face, and 13′ from front to back. Three separate pieces, stems screw in, weight approx. 900-1200 pounds
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KIN