100% recycled newspaper

"The Queen of Queens". The literally, woven paper sculpture is one of my object from my still growing "Wear The News" collection, which I won recognition in Europe and Canada. This object which I am now presenting is in same way a continuance and expansion of my previous work with an emphasis on multicultural communication and ecology. As an artist and historian I see a piece of human history in many different materials. For these reasons I am collecting newspapers from around the world, to get full visual impact and communication with the audience, including specific languages and typefaces of many different cultures and nations. That is why I chose newspaper as my basic material. "The Queen of Queens" is inspired by the culture and history of England. I am using textile techniques, such as weaving, mostly unique patterns, shape and colors and lot of details for creating an extraordinary piece of art, and an unique paper sculpture.

Newspapers, paint, re-used ribbon & crystals

“The crinoline was worn by women of every social class. The wider circulation of magazines and newspapers spread news of the new fashion, also fueling desire for it, and mass production made it affordable”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crinoline)

Clothing and newspapers were first mass produced during the industrial revolution. This enabled, for the first time, all classes to purchase ready-made clothing and a newspaper. One hundred fifty years later, I take it for granted that free newspapers show up at our doors daily, and that I can buy a t-shirt at the grocery store for $5.00.

This dress represents both the industrial revolution’s first exciting attempt at mass production and the present day stacks of newspapers recycled, often unread, every day. The dress is in the silhouette of an 1860’s Victorian dress, the very style advertised in the first widely circulated newspapers. It is made from the free newspapers that show up on my doorstep every other morning.

Rip-stop nylon

For the most part clothing is used as a means of protecting the body from outside influences. The wearable inflatable is about using what you put on your body as a method of enhancing experience. I see the rip-stop as an extension of the skin, creating more surface area to encounter even the slightest movement of air.

Mixed media (briefcase, fabric, manual)

Mundane moments, actions, and feelings in everyday life motivate my making process. When I see the potential of fixing human situations, I become obsessed about correcting these moments. I become an ironic fixer who facilitates adaptations.

Animals have physical adaptations that allow them to get food, make their homes, attract mates, protect themselves and survive. On the other hand humans create physical adaptations using objects to survive and live in their environment. My MARY KAY Protection Device ironically shows how humans develop objects that work as a physical adaptation, even if it is not a body part. The piece reminds the viewer of the necessity to feel safe.

I fix actions, situations, and feelings ultimately creating prostheses. I try to alter the human body in order to improve actions such as feel protected in a new environment. My sculptures are wearable; sometimes they can work as a placebo. They make a reflection, a comment or a critic with their own functionality.

Pillows, necktie, hangers, wood, ratchet

The components of this piece represent the weakness of a professional male, father who desperately constructs a ridiculous apparatus from recognizable materials found around the house that are dense with latent meaning. Their juxtaposition coaxes the viewer into a “psychological place” that one normally would not consider occupying. One becomes the subject of one’s own viewing, while contemplating the “act” of committing suicide. This “reflective space” is a comfortable place for one to think about suicide, a subject that never enters one’s psyche until it devastates one’s life.

The title sets up a contradiction between the life-saving benefits of a life jacket and the act of committing suicide. It also is imbued with a sense of humor with the contrast between the pain of the cable crushing one’s ribs and the softness of the pillows. Imagine the tightened cable squeezing the last air out of the lungs, until one passes out and falls to the ground, only to wake up and try it all over again.