Portfolio > Heroes and Villains

Chief Jumper and His Horse
fabric, thread, ink, paint
2010
Who's Gonna Glove Your Hand
fabric, thread, paint
21" x 28"
2011
Yellow Catahoula Hound
fabric, thread, paint
20.5" x 27"
2011
Vulture #1
fabric, thread, paint, ink
13.5" x 16"
2011
Vulture #2
fabric, thread, paint, ink
19" x 27"
2011
Rope A Dope
fabric, thread, paint, ink
69" x 50"
2011
Stella
fabric, thread, paint
18" x 19"
2011
Blue Hound
fabric, thread, paint
15.5 " x 17"
2011
Clutches
fabric, thread, paint, ink
47" x 39"
2011
Flying Trapeze #1 and #2
fabric, thread, paint, ink
48" x 78" (installed)
2011
Let's Split!
fabric, thread, ink, paint
21" x 20"
2011
Flying Trapeze #2
fabric, thread, ink, paint
2010
Score
fabric, thread, ink, paint
2010
Big Stick Diplomacy
fabric, thread, ink, paint
2010
Dog
fabric, thread, ink, paint
22" x 19"
2010
Heroes and Villains
fabric, thread, ink, paint
2010
Clutches
fabric, thread, ink, paint
2010
Flying Trapeze #1
fabric, thread, ink, paint
2010

Ultimately, Heroes and Villains is about dualism…the great complement of benevolent and malignant forces. It’s also about:

opportunism
Schadenfreude
othering
betrayal
westward expansion
triumph of nature over human folly
making lemonade out of lemons
if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!
picking up the pieces
a grand scheme…a master plan
attraction/repulsion
domination/vulnerability
mortality
sex


I have to give credit to three sources of inspiration for this body of work:

Theodorus de Bry was a 16th century, Belgian engraver who published several books illustrating the New World. His depictions of Native Americas were not based on firsthand observation. He relied on the descriptions and sketches of various explorers to create a fabricated vision of the Americas.

Heroes and Villains is the name of one of the songs co-written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks on The Beach Boys album, Smile. Smile is a surf-rock opera about the significance of westward expansion in the formation of American identity.

Richard Campanella’s work, especially Time and Place in New Orleans: Past Geographies in the Present Day, describing the confluence of geography and human occupation in Southeast Louisiana, continues to fuel my imagination.