Visual Art

line dance for an american textbook

A close-up of a poetry object called "Linedance for an American Textbook." Diagrams in different colors appear on acetate sheets. The front-most sheet is pulled very close to the camera and the other diagrams, and the writing of a poem beneath all of that, can be seen through the ghostly white. In the background, the frame of the window and red bricks of the wall can be seen.
A photo of a poetry object called "Linedance for an American Textbook." Diagrams in different colors appear on very reflective acetate sheets. A poem beneath the sheets can barely be seen through the ghostly white. The sheets are bound in a large wooden frame along the top edge, which hangs from a black string. The poem hangs in front of a rough red brick wall.
A close-up of a poetry object called "Linedance for an American Textbook" on a wooden table. Diagrams in different colors appear on acetate sheets. The first few sheets are pulled over a wooden bar which binds the sheets. The other diagrams, and the writing of a poem beneath can be seen, though they are out of focus.
A very close-up photo of "Linedance for an American Textbook on a wooden table." Diagrams in different colors appear on acetate sheets. Some of the text is legible and reads "I see the suspect country of my grandfather I know almost nothing but fear is this american history"

8.5 x 11 x .5 inches, Transparencies and wood

This visual poem functions as both a window and a bound book. When the book is “closed,” it reads something like a traditional poem (left to right, top to bottom). The subject of this version of the poem is about looking at a family photograph. But by flipping the pages, lines directing the reader to examine the words in a different set of “steps” are made legible, and a new poem is recovered—this one about America’s history of violence and erasure.

Thought-Terminating Cliché

A poetic object called Thought-Terminating Cliché. A slide puzzle with a beige wooden texture stands on a wooden table. The title of the piece is burned in the right corner. The left corner has gold tape on it. The portion that slides is a 3x3 square. Each square contains a word, which reads "it is what it is is it not?" Also burned into squares are silhouettes of birds. In the background is an out of focus light source.
A poetic object called Thought-Terminating Cliché. A slide puzzle with a beige wooden texture lies on a white wooden table. The title of the piece is burned in the right corner but is too out of focus to read. The left corner has gold tape on it. The portion that slides is a 3x3 square. Each square contains a word, which reads "it is what it is is it not?" Also burned into squares are silhouettes of birds.
A close up of a poetic object called Thought-Terminating Cliché. A slide puzzle with a beige wooden texture stands on a wooden table. The visible portion of the puzzle is the portion that slides. It is a 3x3 square. Each square contains a word, which have been shuffled out of order. It reads "it is what is is not it it?" Also burned into squares are silhouettes of birds.
A poetic object called Thought-Terminating Cliché. A slide puzzle with a beige wooden texture lies diagonally on a white wooden table. The title of the piece is burned in the right corner. The left corner has gold tape on it. The portion that slides is a 3x3 square. Each square contains a word, which have been shuffled out of order. It reads "it it is what is is it not?" Also burned into squares are silhouettes of birds.

4.8 x 3.23 x 0.59 inches, Wood (Reclaimed Puzzle)

A thought-terminating cliché is a phrase used by someone to shut down dissent, investigation, or further discussion. Whether or not it is done instinctually, a phrase like “it is what it is,” or “that’s just my opinion” is a kind of conversation closer.

This is a sliding puzzle, a simple kind of combination puzzle (like a Rubik’s Cube).

It has a solution but I am much more interested in what is beneath/beside/beyond that solution.

White Flight

A photo of a poetry objected called White Flight. Two 3x3 checker-patterned boards are connected at one corner. On every square but that corner are circles with words burned in them. Most of the words are out of focus or too far away to read, but they include words like "keep," "becoming," and "mine." Below them, white and black pawns are arranged haphazardly, some spilled over. Their shadows are very long, cast on the wooden table.
A close-up photo of a poetry objected called White Flight. Two 3x3 checker-patterned boards are connected at one corner. Most of the checkered squares have white pawns on them: black on one side and white on the other. A line of squares going down the center of the board have no pawns on them, and 4 of the 5 squares, have circles with words burned under them. The only one that is in focus is the word "good." Everything sits on a wooden table.

9 x 9 inches, Wood and reclaimed chess pieces

This is based on a puzzle by Rouse Ball’s Mathematical Recreations and Essays.

The instructions are, essentially, as follows. Set up the board so the top left portion is filled with white pawns (8), and the bottom right with black pawns (8). A move consists of moving a piece horizontally or vertically into a space, or jumping over one adjacent piece into the space just beyond the jumped piece. No diagonal moves are allowed, nor is moving backward. The challenge is to exchange all the black pieces with all the white in the fewest possible moves.

It has a solution but I am much more interested in what is beneath/beside/beyond that solution.

A close-up photo of a poetry objected called White Flight. The corner of a checkered board made of wood sits at an angle. Most of the checkered squares have white pawns on them. Two pawns have been removed and sit on the wooden table the board sits on. Where those pawns would have stood are burned circles which have words under them. The first says

Photography

A dark photo of an apartment. The left side of the photo shows the entrance to another room with a yellow painted wall and white light switches. The main room contains a very tall bookcase on the left, and a shorter one on the right, both filled with books. The right-most wall has hanging photos. The center of the room has a long dining table with plates, a puzzle, and other papers on it. At the far back of the room is a mirror, barely lit. Standing in the doorway to another room is a brown-skinned man, shirtless, looking at the camera.
A photo, taken from a high angle, of an old-fashioend torn beige settee sitting in the corner of the room. The floor is dirty black and white checkered linoleum. The white wall appears very short. The wall on the left has an exposed white painted pipe. From the top of the image coming down are the black diagonal beams of the rafters.
A very close-up photo of a brown skinned man's bearded chin, stubbled neck, and bare shoulder. In the background a white-lit window.
A photograph of a brown hand in triangular light. All else is in shadows too dark to see, besides a green leaf glowing at its edges on the left side of the photo.
A photograph of an orange, partially peeled. A diagonal line of light cuts behind, and partially over the orange, causing the flesh to seem to glow. In the light, out of focus, are the remaining peels. The shadows above and below the orange make it too dark to make anything else out.

Apology Series, Digital Photography, 22″ x 14″

Runner-Up, Boynes Emerging Artist Award