STATEMENT OF WORK

I went to school at California Institute of the Arts in 1973 and have recently returned to

making art. I find myself with many of the same issues and concerns now, as I did then,

though now seen through the perspective of my personal history of mental illness and

recovery. (Due to the severity of my life-threatening illness, I was unable to participate in

society for almost fifteen years; unable to produce any art, and overwhelmed with fears,

depression and psychosis. Overcoming this illness has left me with the feeling that I can

do anything I want to do, and, at this time, I'm trying to finish what I set out to do thirty

years ago.)

As a child, I felt secure knowing that the drawers were completely shut, doors closed, no

water on the floor to slip on, curtains drawn to keep out the bad things... a kind of

voodoo, in a way. I'm trying to recreate situations that were once so familiar to me and

gave me such a sense of security. I'm again using familiar household materials from

home and hardware stores.

I'm working on open-ended narrative events in a "sort of personal" landscape. The

linoleum floor references the "behavioral institutions" I used to frequent: utilitarian,

devoid of comfort, completely sanitized -- effective protection from a variety of

abominable liquids. The seemingly identical plastic trees are a representation of nature

made safe at the price of its authenticity.

CONCEPT OF EXHIBITION

In regard to Naked Casket, a fairly large installation that can be arranged in different

layouts, according to the space it’s in. I made it this way because those were the only two

empty walls in my studio.

In this piece I am dealing with the home, where a child grows up, in particular, where I

grew up and how I was affected. Included in the piece are towels, one that is embroidered

with a name, Mike Kelley (he killed him self in a bath tub), a friend from cal arts,

washcloths, sconces, household items with weird names and shapes, mixed with

supposedly "affluent and sophisticated" decor.

What sums up this piece, and much of my other works, is the blue flowered paper on the

wall. This is a product from the 1960's that I found on eBay. It’s called "NO BUGS

M'LADY". This is shelf-lining paper for ones kitchen. It was taken off the market

because what killed the bugs that might be in the pantry was that the shelf paper had

poison in it, which also got into the food.