| Lens Flare, 2012 6, individually framed 30 x 40 inches each Digital C-Prints Excerpt of 2 of 6 HD Video Work in Collaboration with Scottt Catolico (11 minutes) Click Here to View At its most elementary level, photography is merely a series of light rays reflecting off surfaces, finding their way through a camera lens and burning an organized image onto a light sensitive surface. The implications of this are the subject matter of photography. Where this interests me is in the mistakes, or unwanted occurrences that define the limitations as well as the limitlessness of the medium. This series consists of images shot in a lighting studio of no particular objects in front of the camera, but instead with the Lens Flare as its subject matter. Lens Flares are unwanted reflections and scatterings of light rays in the lens of the camera. Usually this unwanted element it is compensated through positioning/perspective, bard doors and covers. But in my photographs I bypass these and instead deal with the lens flare directly. Essentially these are abstract photographs of the diffraction artifacts that happen within the camera lens itself, different cameras, different lenses, and different light sources. These photographs are about the camera itself, photography as a medium, and remind us that the photograph can reveal more than what is there. |
| Principles of Conservation of Angular Momentum, 2011 6 in total, Approx 5 x 1 x 1 feet Ceramic and Steel Plate spinning is a circus manipulation act, wherein the performaer keeps a flat object, a plate, in rotation and balanced on a tip of a stick, using the Principels of Conservation of Angular Momentum to keep the action going. This is a performance of skill, experience, and craft, as well as a gimmick using illusion. The piece consists of six actual plates, frozen in their spinning momentum, in stillness, as sculptural objects in the gallery. They are no longer spinning, but caught in the middle of a spin motion, acting as a three dimensionsal still photograph of time. On the edge of balance, threatening to fall and shatter. This piece is dedicated to my family. |
| 48 Objects, 2011 48 Various sized black and white prints Excerpt & Details shown Featuring 48 individual photographs of mundane household objects. I wish to explore the moment -and treat it as a photographic moment, wherein desire enters objects into the libinal system, lose their funtion in the real and gain new function in desire. The overwrought melodrama of representation is enacted upon the objects through though. The 'thought' imposes a complexity of desires found in shame, humiliation, liberation, exploitation, and guilt. |
| Good, 2010 Sample of 500+ Various size C-Prints (approx 3 x 6 inches each) 4 minute Video The following is a small excerpt from a piece that carries over 500 documentations of the word 'good'. 'Good' is photographed and collected each time it is used in the Bible and displayed in chronological order; it comprises a collection of the word separated from its original context. The thin paper of the bible is evident and the word becomes illegible because of interfering figures showing through. Click to view excerpt of Video |
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Bitch Slaps, 2010 30 x 30 inch print Excerpt of "Moonstruck" |
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| Flash Guns, 2009 (Proto-type sketch) Series of sensor-based flash guns are seperated from their camera body, are activated by the viewers presence instead of the photographers touch. My intimate relationship with my medium, (the camera) has found its point of contention in the exploitative nature of representing who are what is represented or representing. The portable Flash strobe lights are usually right on top of the camera body or stretched out on a cord or wirelessly by putting the flash on ‘slave’. It enables a photographer a split-second moment, the strength of daylight, and the ability to take a quick well-lit image. Most recognizably, the cultural tradition and sensation of the paparazzi continuously photographing a famous Hollywood starlet has become an area where we see the flash in abundance. I wish to create an installation that uses many of these strobe lights as my subject matter--a minimum of 300. Having these lights connected in smaller groups to sensors, and when a participant walks by the installation they would set off these flashes to create a moment of instantaneous brightness. An over-indulgent, exploitative moment, as well as eye floaters or spots in the viewers’ eyes, a very natural and organic phenomenon of the eye. The moment of representation being captured in a camera or even memory is referenced through the flash, yet there is no camera body to keep the recording, isolating the act of capture. In our contemporary world images are in great abundance and have become fickle in understanding the effects of receiving or making an image. The strobes, (although set off by the viewer moving in front of them) is not connected to recording device, thus the promise of documentation and image is missing--the image exists somewhere else. The flash then needs to re-charge for its next exploit, and makes a high-pitched ‘zing’ sound to refuel the power in the device to do it again. The grating sound and ghostly spots left in the viewers’ eyes becomes evidence of the moment. |
| Falling Woman, 2008 4 minutes and 30 seconds with sound, looping HD DVD Installation & Excerpt of 10 seconds Falling Woman is a looped video depicting a woman trapped in a never-ending fall. The fall in Falling Woman represents an interest in contrived depictions of unconsciousness. The piece plays with the dream of falling interpreted as a loss of control or the feeling of fear and humiliation that comes in dreams of being naked. The wind from the fall forces the protagonist's dress over her head, which simultaneously conceals her identity and exposes her naked body, acting as a natural yet exploitative flirtation with the camera. Autonomy and control clash for the subject has not jumped nor has she been pushed, and she will never land, instead she is in the midst of a continuous fall. The meeting of these moments manifest themselves in an endless sublime sky where we witness the woman frustrated in her attempt to connect with the sublime. |
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| Falling Woman, Stills 2008 12 Individually framed, 14 x 21 inches each Digital C-Prints 6 of 12 shown, 2 Excerpts The piece works in specific reference to art historical events and works, such as Yves Klein's photomontage farce Leap into the Void, which depicts a staged event of the artist leaping (or perhaps flying) off the edge of a building. Or the loss of control in the humble gestures of Bas Jan Ader's falling pieces. Primarily the piece addresses the influence feminist discourse has on my practice and positioning. In a reference to second wave feminist artist, Ana Mendieta, known for her site-specific installations and performances, in her signature "Sileuta" series she imposed her body onto the environment with impressions of her contours, commenting on the presence and absence of the artist in her gendered role, a series that foreshadowed her untimely and suspicious death. In Falling Woman the body continues to be a battleground of desire and exploitation. However the implication of the viewer's gaze makes subjectivity of woman impossible to reach. |
| Pit Bull Project, 2007 32 Individually framed, 20 x 20 inches each Digital C-Prints Series & 4 of 32 shown, Desperado, Mayhem, Rupert, and Tyson. As an investigation to the first provincial-wide banning of Pit Bull dogs, I recorded the last of the species in Ontario. The result of an open call in the Toronto area led to 32 portraits. Because the ban prohibits any new Pit Bull dogs, or Pit Bull-types from being brought into the province, or for new litters from being bred, these are the last of their kind. |
| Series: Nudes Moiré, 2007 6, Individually framed, 60 x 48 inches each Digital C-Prints 3 of 6 Full pieces shown with details and Installation "Black" also shown (extension beyond Nudes) By duplicating the grid of nude hosiery and rubbing the two nudes close together, I recorded the moiré pattern that occurs when two weaves do not match up and distribute their proportions unevenly. The result is a very organic pattern resembling knots on trees, tiger stripes, or optical illusions. The illusion changes dependent on the viewers positioning, or in this case -the positioning of the camera. |
Series: Nudes Grid, 2006 6 Individually framed, 60 x 48 inches each Digital C-Prints 3 of 6 shown, plus 3 details, and Installation at Republic Gallery Six large-scale monochromatic photographs depict an enlarged recording of the weaving patterns and details of sheer women's panty-hose. Each nude shade depicts its own marks from the wearing and wearing down of the surface. The nudes test the idea of imitation and actual flesh, synthetic and organic structures, and the grid vs. the cloud. |
| Series: Nail Polish Drops Chromes, 2005 Individually framed, 8, 28 x 18 inches each Digital C-Prints Gold, Blue, Copper, Lead, Lead Detail, Silver, Bronze Installation at Republic Gallery, Vancouver Different nail lacquers are dropped into water where they take on organic and natural characteristics. The purity of the water, which alters their shape, represents an unconscious environment that has no set motives. The drips suggest expressionistic performance painting caught in action, and comment on notions of autonomy and abstraction. Industrial paint pigments are replaced by cosmetic nail lacquer, intended for vanity and ornamentation of the feminine subject. Chrome material polishes were chosen as a way of accessing a masculine tone of ornamentation. Lead, copper, gold, silver and bronze are liquefied from their original use of decorating motorcycles and cars, or acting as competitive sports metal winnings. |
| Series: Nail Polish Drops Pearls, 2005 18, Individually framed, 12 x 12 inches each Digital C-Prints 5 of 18 images and detail shown Small precious gems start to appear when nail laquer is dropped into water. The preciousness of pearls and gems remind us of 'natural' and 'valuable' charms used to adorn a woman's neck for the sake of womanliness. The synthetic quality of the lacquer pigments mimic, as well as transform, the concept of the pearl. |
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Tricky/Gullible, 2005 Tricky/Gullible is a piece in response to the many ways art objects are understood and interacted with. Taken from a childhood game, the very nature of illusion and manipulation become frustrating and inspiring, provoked and believed. |
| February 2003, 2003 28, 8 x 8 inches each C-Prints 1 Week excerpt & Installation at Gallery 44 and Belkin Art Gallery February 2003 consists of 28 photographed shower tiles adhered to the wall in a row. The piece documents the remnants of hair left on the tiles after performing the daily ritual of showering. The hair reminds one of decay and ageing as well as acting as a reflection on the conventional notion of feminine beauty and power carried through long strands of hair. The documentary aesthetic imitates conceptual photography as well as expressionistic drawings. |
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| Smarties, 2004 (Yellow, Purple, Orange, Brown, Blue, Red, Green and Pink) 8, individually framed, 20 x 20 inches each Digital C-Prints Purple, Orange, Red shown, Brown detail Smarties presents the nostalgic childhood treat washed away of its color through licking on the surface. All eight colors display their own characteristics in the changed candy surface. The fading color mimics an erased surface, playing with candy pigmentation. The material importance and detached aesthetic of minimal work is purposely contaminated with the oral and erotic stimulation of licking. |
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| Latent Predictions, 2004 (on-going) The artists' daily horoscope are cut up, shaken and re-arranged in a surrealist latent game. Capturing an energy and subconscious moment of the artist, for a personalized prediction. |
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| Panties & Polish Series Jacob and Maybelline Cherry Rain 180, 2003 2, 40 x 40 inches each, individually framed, Digital C-Prints Jockey and Revlon Sheer Nude 060, 2003 2, 40 x 40 inches each, individually framed, Digital C-Prints Installation at Belkin Art Gallery & Detail of Jockey The Panty and Nail Polish series consists of three large-scale photographic diptychs. The piece investigates the outcome of contrived cultural products when entrenched in the natural world, in this case--the unconscious characteristics of water. Lingerie and nail polish are synthetic and artificial, but the values they are given invent the feminine subject. The products are essentially unfulfilling, yet seem necessary to the idea of woman. |
| Ink Drips (Characters)
Commisioned for Taipei hotel, the drips represent chinese characters of the words Beauty, Sunrise, Grace, Harmony, Tranquility, and Peace. Shown below is a map of the sex characters and a larger image of Sunrise. |
3 x 8 x 10
Commissioned for the Trap Door Art Auction in 2010, with the theme of 8 x 10 (inches) three times, and for the purpose of trading. Three folding and cutting patters are photographed and printed on to an 8 x 10 inch paper. |
| Isn't, 2012 Silver Ring Isn't is a hand engraved and oxidized ring of the word isn't. Isn't is a contraction of "is not", a grammatical shortening of two written or spoken words, into one, by the omission of internal letters. To some extent, isn't is a whole new word beyond is and not. Sacrificed is the O, and turned into an apostrophe '. The seperation and integration of these words, as well as the meaning of isn't or is not, as something missing, are put onto the external size of an O, the ring itself. |
| Some Pottery Projects |
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| Unfinished Jokes
(Feminist) 2012 500 Posters to take |
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Unfinished Jokes (Feminist), 2012
500 free posters
| Feminist Joke Book (Lightbulb) 2011 11 feet x 9 inches tall, 22 page book Excerpts and Installation shown The book title “How many Feminists does it take to change a Lightbulb?” contains 21 consecutive pages revealing different punch lines to this iconic joke. Starting with “that’s not funny”, the most classic of the punch lines, insinuates feminists’ prudish reputation and perhaps it is this reputation that has complicated the fear of declaration found in women of our time. The chauvinistic jokes progress in chronological order that follow the waves of feminism, ending in, “Trick question. Feminists can’t change anything”, a gloomy outlook for the state of feminism today. Will the enlightenment of the lightbulb go on, or do we prefer to stay in the dark? |
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