Hey Lover Letters
Pigments & Hormones
Pigments & Hormones is a series of works on paper. In each piece, paper is painted with a mixture of powder pigemts and hormones. This mixture is applied to both the front and the back side of the paper. In some cases the paper is folded and mounted to acrylic glass to appear as if it is slinding off the glass. The hormone used in the mixture is called oxytocin. This hormone exists within a crystal clear liquid and has been used like water in the pigment & hormone mixture. In some works a vial of the hormones is mounted delicately, precisely, and precariously to the edge of the acrlic glass. Oxytocin is a hormone involved in a lot of complex brain behavior including bonding and trusting. The exact placement of the vials evokes a sence of tension that can surround the bonding of one thing to another as well as the delicacy of trust.
Coming soon
New Enlightened Era with Text Message Green is a series of works made from gouache mixed with oxytocin and archival inkjet prints mounted on acrylic glass. Within each piece in this series there are three main elements that interact with one another. There is a reference to a fragmented text message shape, there is a photographic element (though the photograph’s imagery is somewhat ambiguous) and there is the inclusion of hormones.These three visual elements -the text message bubble, the photograph, and the hormones- work together to signify a kind of fragmented and dissolving communication and an adjacent opportunity and desire for actual connection and bonding.
The hormone used in the work is oxytocin. Oxytocin is the literal substance that allows humans to experience feelings of connection. This hormone acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain and is involved in a lot of complex brain activity like bonding and trusting. I simply mix trace amounts of the molecule with pigments. For example in this work the color identified as text message green is made up of various pigments mixed with water and oxytocin. Glass vials of the hormones are also included within certain arrangements. In New eNlightened Era COMING SOON With Text Message Green and Oxytocin (2018) one vial sits atop a photograph and in another work a vial clings to one side of a photograph. I use the hormone because I aim to both visually and conceptually join the tangible with the intangible.
I think our existence together on this earth can in some ways be narrowed down to two types of experiences; ones that are tangible in nature and deal with tangible matter, or are intangible in nature and deal with intangible material and qualities. Hormones play a part in both experiences; they are the tangible evidence of certain intangible feelings. So by including hormones in my work feelings and emotions become an idea and a material you can hold on to. The substance that provides connection and bonding is literally in the work.
The photographic element in this work functions much more ambiguously. The rectangular shape of the photograph is maintained to some degree but the imagery inside the rectangular shape is cropped and not distinct. If you look closely you might be able make out some kind of form but more often the form appears to be dissolving into pure color and light. It just so happens that the photograph is actually of the human body but again it has been altered and edited in a way to emphasize a kind of dissolving and partial view. The text message shape is also fragmented and it acts as a frame or delivery mechanism for the photograph.
The titles of the work serve as anchors for the various moving visual parts of the work. The phrase“New enlightened era COMING SOON” is used because I see my work existing within the expansive structure of world history. I am looking at our current moment and I see and anticipate a need to create a more enlightened era where we disregard fragmentation and disconnection and resound to acknowledged a shared whole with actual connectivity (that is less mediated by technology).
Radicalized, Small Threats and Of Course the Sunrise
The multi part paintings in this series belong to a body of work titled Radicalized, Small Threats, and Of Course the Sunrise. These works are made from pigments and paint that has been mixed with hormones and then painted onto paper and canvas. The hormone being used is called oxytocin. As stated in other places within this website oxytocin is a hormone involved in complex brain activity like bonding and trusting. Literally, oxytocin is the tangible substance pulsing through all the intangible materials that create feelings of love, trust, togetherness, and general bonding. I use the molecule as a conceptual anchor in swirling and sometimes ambiguous forms of color and pattern. The colors, patterns, and shapes are often informed by nebulous emotion and fleeting feelings as well as aesthetic references to my early childhood and political engagements from this past decade. In this particular body of work oxytocin is the anchor within dark areas of swirling color, references to 90’s era aesthetics (“Laura Ashley” prints and colors like “hunter green” for example), as well as shapes and colors referencing the so-called ISIS flag. The presence of oxytocin in this particular body of work speaks towards our constant ability (most present during childhood) to trust and bond and connect with individuals even in the face of political upheavals like war, terror, and extreme opposition.
home(-)free exhibition. ︎read more
︎︎︎︎
The photographs is this series belong to a project titled My Freedom Is Too Big (2011-2014). My Freedom Is Too Big is a multi media project that consists of photographs, works on paper, wallpaper, and an original song.
