As always, I am grateful for opportunities to propose for various institutions. The work in this gallery was created fully on paper and in a digital world, however it was not funded for completion in physical reality. I am quite fond of these pieces, and some came close to being realized. Continue reading
Stilts and Cranes three watercut sculptures in cypress frame elements, benches, slate black board element, Stiltsville structure with roof 2007
This work was commissioned by Schools of Choice/Magnet Schools for an interior courtyard of one of the oldest schools in Miami Dade County Public Schools. Using the original blueprints from the school district and site visits, I designed an outdoor classroom for approximately 30 students that included seating, a blackboard and sculpture elements. At three of four compass points I placed images of things that could be found at the corresponding compass point: To the East, I made a relief print (watercut aluminum/powdercoated) of Stiltsville and Biscayne Bay that was supported in a structure reminiscent of the Stiltsville houses out on the Bay, incorporating a large natural slate chalkboard; To the West, I made a relief print (watercut aluminum/ powdercoated) of a Sand Hill Crane in the Everglades, a resident of the Everglades’ ecosystem; To the South, in a nod to the rampant construction in the early 2000’s, I made an image of the Construction Cranes that were seemingly everywhere in the sky. Seating was provided near each image on three 12 ft x 12 ft square concrete slabs using concrete pillars (stamped with both Sand Hill and Construction Cranes) and native Cypress plank seats.
A landscape plan with native plants and wildlife attracting, flowering shrubs through the generosity of Rick Yasko, Landscape Architect and Visual Artist. Both the landscape plan and my original design were created to supply an ongoing conversation between this classic 1920’s Spanish Courtyard, the vanishing community of Stiltsville, the Everglades with its indigenous species of wildlife, and the rapid changes to the urban Brickell corridor.
In 2005, in the middle of the real estate boom in South Florida, I began taking photographs of of buildings that fell victim to the need for more land to build on. One of these buildings was a humble apartment building, no more than 15 units, at most. Latin music, parties, children’s voices, the smell of barbeque grills and more vanished literally overnight. Knowing that my apartment of over 15 years may well have been the next complex to go led me to do this series of prints of the semi-demolished building. This was 3029 S.W. 27th Avenue, Coconut Grove, Florida. As I write this, it is a large condominium building with several vacant units.
Each of the prints in this series is 16 inches by 20 inches, in an edition of 20, black ink on Japanese paper.
“Ganko,” is an observation of overlapping cultures, housed in a multiple quire binding. After a class in single/complex quire bindings by Julia Miller at Oregon College of Art and Craft in 2007, I couldn’t wait to put the knowledge to work. During my residency there during summer 2007 this book came together with letterpress printed covers (thanks to Moe Snyder), digital imaging on sheets of Mohawk Superfine Text, and end sheets of kimono fabrics from the Japanese Gardens in Portland, Oregon. Akiko Watamori, my friend (and my bird Ashlynn’s Veterinarian) gave me a window on Japanese culture. I gave her a tour of Miami. The result, including some random images of Portland, Oregon, became “Ganko” in an edition of three.