New Political Bulbs Installation at Boxx Gallery in Tieton

I have work in a show at Boxx Gallery this month. The sculpture show opens today, Saturday, April 6 with a reception Saturday from 11-4. The gallery is free and open to the public. And there will be snacks.

Installation view of Political Bulbs

The gallery is located at 616 Maple Street in Tieton. I have installed my political bulbs for this show. I decided (at the last minute) to install them in a different arrangement than the grid I have done before. While I was installing, I realized I should install them in the shape of the United States, which is kind of how they ended up, but since I didn't decide this until partway through the process, it isn't really clear.

Installation view of Political Bulbs in Tieton

This show features my most recent political work. I showed these pieces in a grid in Hood River this summer, but I never managed to get great installed images. Maybe I'll remember to take some this month. This installation features both references to the flag, the congress building, and the constitution, but also some more blatantly offensive works.

ice cream or the poo emoji?

The gallery is open every Saturday this month from 11-4, and there will be another reception and associated events on April 27 for International Sculpture day.

I also have work up at Artebella Gallery, at 1111 W. Spruce Street in Yakima. Artebella is open Thursdays - Saturdays 10-4. (and by appointment). The gallery is free and open to the public.

Politics / Protest Mugs

A screaming Trump with his wall. I like the face, but the wall is boring.

This past summer, when I began working on my 30 pieces in 30 days project, I had originally intended to make three sets of 30 pieces, because, apparently, I like to give myself too much to do. I did finish and display a set of 30 abstract bulbs and a set of 30 politics bulbs, but I wasn't able to finish the mugs.

A (poorly lit) detail shot of my abstract bulbs at Columbia Center for the Arts. As far as I can tell, exhausted me from the summer never even took a decent photograph of the other installation.

The concept I was playing with was the contrast between sides. In the abstract bulbs, I simply created contrasting textures and colors on either sides of some of the bulbs, but for both the political bulbs and the political mugs, the original plan was to create imagery that represented contrasting political perspectives on opposite sides of the same piece.

The opposite side of the "wall" mug. I'm reasonably happy with this side.

If I remember, correctly, I abandoned the reversibility of the bulbs when I realized that some of the more sculptural forms would make the bulbs difficult to hang both ways. The extra depth of the sculpted parts would force the bulbs to hang at a funny angle or not at all. Eschewing the reverse side sculpture also allowed me to close some of the bulb fronts.

I didn't glaze this one yet, in part because I'm less happy with it's opposite side, the Obama "Hope" poster.

But the mugs work as reversibles. The handles are the automatic hook for hanging, and the handle is automatically some distance from the decoration on either side. The depth of a nose won't cause them to hang much differently than they would with a flat surface. Also, the forms are larger, meaning more space for some of the sculpted forms. 

A diagram of two alternate setups for the same mugs, with A side displaying one political perspective and B side another. Each mug has an A and a B side.

I have to admit, the ubiquity of the mug form for a potter, and the fact that people buy mugs, was also part of the appeal. I teach Functional Pottery all year so when I get to the end of the year, I have trouble stepping away from the functional forms. I can't tell if it is just familiarity or if it's a result of the fact that I spend the entire year trying to get students to think critically about form, function, handle shape, rim definition, and surface decoration. After harping on about it all year, I think I need to make the forms I'm bugging them about.

This one has a male dominated side and a gender equity side, but its a little trite and a little boring. It might work ok as a supporting actor for related mugs, but I'm not excited about it. there are some flaws in the glaze on the rim and handle, too.

I abandoned the mugs this summer when I'd made only about 15. I had simply taken on too much work, as I'm wont to do. and I realized that to finish the other two projects, I'd have to drop something. The mugs weren't working as well as the bulbs, so I stopped building and didn't even glaze them. I also knew I'd have to fire the mugs separately. (I was using a cone 6 throwing body and planned to use cone 6 glazes, but the bulbs were done with two different low fire sculpture bodies that I finished with the same low fire glaze.)

The opposite side of the gender equality/inequality mug.

I finished some of the mugs in December in the days I had off between the end of the quarter and our holiday travels. I took the pieces out of the kiln just before we left and mostly wasn't happy. The motifs didn't work as well as I'd initially planned, regardless of color, but I was also unhappy with some of the glazing.

One of the exciting things about the bulbs that I decided to avoid in the mugs is the use of mixed media. If these mugs are functional, they can't have holes, materials that aren't able to be washed, or undercuts that can catch water. The result is more subdued decoration.

I didn't glaze everything. Two pieces had cracked, two were too complicated to finish in a few days and I'd left one blank because I planned to paint the decoration, but I can't now remember what I was planning to do.

The idea for this mug is the two favorite amendments of the two contrasting political parties. The second here and the first, above, but as is, this just looks like guns randomly stuck on a mug. 

I'm still halfway interested in trying to finish the project, but I need dedicated time. The political or protest inspired pieces are simply more taxing mentally than the abstract pieces. Working on the abstract pieces is repetitive and relaxing and the results aren't controversial, so I don't stress about how people will react.

The glaze was either too thin or underfed on this mug. I was too lazy, too, on my glaze application. This one, on its own, probably put me off writing about these for over a month.

With the political pieces, I know I'm going to make someone unhappy if I'm doing what I mean to do, but the worst result is if people don't know what I'm trying to say. I'm afraid I've accomplished that (a lack of clarity) with some of the mugs, and in general the mugs I've finished are, across the board, more disappointing to me than the political bulbs. Some of the mugs simply feel cheesy and/or amateurish.

This one has protestors and placards on both sides. The decoration is ok, but it felt like too much work to glaze it in December. I'm glad I didn't, too, because I'm unhappy with the contrast I got from the commercial celadons in the text mug above. Instead I'll use underglaze like the gender symbol mug earlier.

The pieces I still like the best and that I most enjoyed making are the screaming faces. They're fun to make and they also feel like they capture the mood of the country right now. I've been toying with the idea of making an installation composed exclusively of screaming faces. And really, who doesn't want a screaming mug right now?

These two are my favorites. The screaming person is the opposite side of the screaming Trump above and who even cares what is opposite the birth control, because the color worked well. I used underglaze for both and the color is much more what I want than what I got with the celadons.

I think I will eventually finish the mug pieces. During the year I've got a day job that takes a lot of my mental energy, but in the summer I think it might be worth it to push past the unpleasantness and the failure of some of the mugs to see the whole set installed together. Though I'm disappointed with the current results, I'm not totally over the whole idea.

Mixed Media Additions to Political Bulbs

bound hands

Seven of my politics bulbs in this group have mixed media additions. I added these after the pieces had been glazed and fired, but I had planned for them from the beginning. The bound hands piece was one I started early in the summer. it was one of the first of the political bulbs from this batch. I always intended to use a zip tie to bind the hands and thus I built in space for the zip tie to go into the bulb. The hands attach to the bulb by the arms and the edge of both palms for stability.

separation of church and state

Another piece that I envisioned from the beginning was the rosary covering the capital building. I wanted to reference the power that Christianity has over so much that happens in politics in our country, despite the supposed separation of church and state. In execution I am pleased that that cross ends up in front of the capital.

birth control is basic healthcare

In some cases the mixed media additions aren't going to make the work more clear, but they do serve to make the work more interesting visually and textually. The IUD bulb has a braided string (like the real thing), which isn't strictly necessary to communicate that I'm talking about birth control and family planning, but it adds color and size to the bulb without fragility.

kids in cages

The jail cell or cage bars, made from painted toothpicks, are integral to the structure of the piece. It would be possible to fill the cell with ceramic objects and make the bars from clay attached to the walls of the bulb, but it would be difficult to paint the interior pieces. Plus, I simply hadn't finished the inside pieces when I made the rest of the bulb. Attaching bars later seems to work fairly well.

inside the cage are a bottle, teddy bear, and pacifier

The pieces I am least confident in are the gun themed bulbs. Part of my hesitation to talk about them, especially online, is that I have a gut feeling that some guns rights nuts are likely to invade my online world and tell me I'm a terrible person who doesn't understand guns and because I don't love the second amendment I should be shot.

guns are patriotic

I intended both of my mixed media gun bulbs to reference how integral guns and gun violence are to US society. The gun nuts, and I here I am referring to the unquestionable nuts who make other people's lives unpleasant both online and in person, equate total personal armament with patriotism and any types of restrictions on gun types, access to guns, quality or size of guns, guns in public, guns in schools, guns carried openly in a blatant attempt to confront and cause controversy are automatically suspect and met with loud, violent, and unceasing hostility.

guns are inescapable

In part because of the baggage that comes along with guns, gun restrictions, and questions about the second amendment, I am less confident in these pieces. I also wish my rope was darker.

Rude Bulbs

The coat Melania Trump wore to meet immigrants who had been detained and separated from their children said "I really don't care do u?"

This summer I ended up making more rude bulbs than I initially intended to for this summer's political bulbs project now up at Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River, Oregon. Some of these are rude because the news was rude. Some are rude because I just felt like being rude.

What fills a MAGA (Make America Great Again) hat? Ice cream or poo?

I was happy to discover that even what I considered to be the rudest, most childish bulb that I have ever made, flew just over the heads of the young people who were visiting my studio. I was relieved when one young guest identified what I meant to be the poo emoji 💩 in the hat as soft serve ice cream.

Grab them by the feline

Another of my rude pieces is similarly subtle. I sculpted what I wanted to be a tiny hand (hence the large sleeve) holding a pussy cat. I thought this was a clear reference to 45’s infamous “grab them by the pussy,” but I have since learned that this needs to be explained. I hope that in the context of 29 other bulbs addressing politics and the current administration, the reference will be more clear.

Scream 1 and Scream 2

The first screaming face was initially done as a direct representation of an angry white woman in a MAGA hat screaming at a protestor. I both enjoyed doing the faces and thought they so captured the current political discourse so well that I decided to make more.

nasty language bulb

I had been thinking of word as snakes, flames, and things that take on a life of their own once out in the world. I hadn't specifically thought to do this as a bulb, but I had been thinking of something similar for some time. The mouth with rude, hateful word flames coming out of it, for that reason, is one of my favorites of this series. I didn't include eyes because I didn't want them to distract from the topic and because the bulb shape makes their placement a bit awkward with the mouth and nose in this position.

Mansplaining bulb

I apparently forgot to take a picture of one of my last two rude bulbs from this series. I've discussed the "Well, actually..." bulb before, but in a similar vein I wrote on another bulb. This one, without a photo, says "Hey baby, can you give me a smile?" I was looking for the a generic phrase that captured the misogyny, patronizing tone, and entitlement that we all know in street harassment. It makes me cranky just writing and discussing it. I realized after I delivered the work that I should have covered the bulb in something utterly disgusting, like vaseline, so that the bulb, like the street harassment comments themselves, leaves a lingering film of unpleasantness for those who get too close.

Art-A-Day at Columbia Center for the Arts

Daily Conversations, Art a Day opens at Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River, Oregon on July 31 and continues in the gallery through August 31. Come see my work during the opening reception on August 3 or during the regular gallery hours, daily, 11-5.

my favorite abstract bulb, a yellow and purple porcupine abstract bulb

In preparation for this exhibition, artists were asked to make a new artwork every day for 30 days and also write about their process.

Patterns, based on the ceiling at the Yakima Yoga Collective

I made two sets of 30 bulbs each. One set is "abstract" bulbs. They are, in fact, mostly abstract, though towards the end of the building process I started making faces and hands which aren't so much abstract as random.

The second amendment

The abstract or random bulbs are in contrast to the other set of bulbs which are a continuation of a series I began last year and which I have alternately called political, protest, or patriot bulbs. Each one addresses something controversial in our nation, usually something prompted by the current administration's policies or rhetoric, or by major news stories in this country.

If you live in WA, your primary ballot is due August 7!

Taken together the political bulbs illustrate my own political views, but hopefully also leave room for interpretation and thoughfulness on some of the issues where ambiguity is possible or even natural. 

Hard to tell in the photo, but there are three colors in the bulb

The "abstract" bulbs, taken together, probably suggest that I was having fun with texture and color. In this post I've collected some of my favorites from both sets of bulbs.

Knit bulb (with ceramic bulb inside)

I enjoyed the abstract ones most when I tried something new, be it a new material incorporated into the bulb itself or a new sculpting or decorating technique.

front and back of the same abstract bulb from early on in the project

At one point I had intended to create contrasting textures on the front and back of each bulb in the abstract series, but some of my surfaces are too deep or complex to allow the bulbs to be easily hung in either direction.

second screaming bulb (abstract set)

As I mentioned, pure abstraction went out the window at some point in the process, and I prioritized having fun making the work over sticking closely to my original intent. Part of me wants to make faces and hands and maybe feet and other body parts for a whole series, but I'm not quite sure why.

just a random blue hand

Some of the bulbs also began to extend well past the boundaries of the bulb itself. The flower piece was fun to make and I'm pretty happy with the finished product, but difficult to photograph before it was installed.

flower bulb

I am unable to install this work during the assigned time, so I have delivered it to the gallery and they have installed it for me. I won't actually be able to get to the show to see the work until after the opening. If you are in the Hood River area, be sure to check it out (and tell me about it). The reception is July 2 from 6-8pm.

the bulb of nearly 1000 toothpicks

Art a Day Installation Grid and Mixed Media Bulbs

Mixed Media Bulbs

"Abstract" bulb with flower decoration, finished with underglaze colors, clear  gloss medium, and mixed media attachments.

I will be delivering both of my "abstract" and "politics" bulb sets of bulbs to Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River tomorrow for their Art a Day exhibition opening in August. I finished up the glazing for these pieces last weekend and this week I have been finishing up the non-ceramic attachments for some of the pieces. 

Bulb in the process of having bike parts attached with epoxy

Out of 60 total pieces, about 20 have some element added on afterwards. In most cases the mixed media attachments are epoxied on after firing, in some cases the additions are tied or wrapped, as in the knitted cover that I made for one of the "abstract" bulbs. 

knit bulb

I had three pieces that came out of the last firing with incomplete glaze coverage. Since the pieces are not meant to be used for food or drink, I decided to coat them with a clear gloss medium--basically acrylic paint with no color. 

"abstract" bulbs with glitter paint

When I reached into my stash of paint bottles, I found a glitter paint that I must have inherited, but never used. I decided to give two of the "abstract" bulbs a contrasting texture of glitter gloss medium. It feels fairly silly to use glitter paint, but also an interesting texture.

Installation Grid

initial plans for installation spacing

I will not be able to install the work myself, so I also spent some time this week making a new paper grid to be used by the gallery staff who will be installing for me. I already have a paper grid for an installation of 100 bulbs, but this time around I am installing two separate grids of 30 each in the same 8' wall space. Additionally, my existing paper grid is confusing, with extra marks, mistakes, and triangles that need to be fitted together when putting the three separate pages on the wall. The existing grid only needs to be read by me, but the new one needs to be clear to other installers.

most of the "abstract" bulbs in place, with one "political" bulb to the right

Yesterday, with the temperatures in the 90s and above, I wanted to finish the grid in the morning. I laid out an 8' roll of paper on the back patio, arranged the bulbs on the paper to get a sense of the size and placement, and got out several tape measures and L-square rulers to measure and draw out my grid straight and even. My goal was to make the paper as clean and clear as possible so that the gallery staff only need to level the paper, tape it to the wall, and mark the holes. I was able to keep the paper mostly clear of extraneous pencil and ink marks, but I wasn't able to keep the cats from walking across the paper with dusty paws.

"abstract" hand bulb (I strayed away from the original idea of abstraction in these bulbs, but "no specific political message or story" bulbs sounds awkward).

The two sets of bulbs will each be arranged in grids of 5 bulbs wide by 6 bulbs high. As my paper wasn't quite large enough, I had to add paper sections to the bottom of the roll to make a large enough space. I marked the grid in pencil and marked the holes in marker with each hole mark circled for clarity. In the past when I have used the paper grid to install, I just drilled the holes directly through the paper. The gallery staff can do the same or they can mark each spot through the paper, then take the paper down to put up the hooks.

I hope the kitten wiped her paws before walking on my photo backdrop

While I was making the grid, I also took some decent photographs of the 57 bulbs that were finished at that point (two are still being epoxied together right now). I used my old photo backdrop on the ground and my phone camera rather than setting up my table, vinyl backdrop and tripod, but the results are fine and the best I care to achieve on my timeline. Theses photos at least do not have epoxy and other detritus in the background.

I think there are nearly 100 toothpick pieces epoxied into this bulbs. What was I thinking?

Today I will finish up the packing and the epoxy on the last two pieces, then I will deliver the work tomorrow. I also need to write about my process. I have blog posts and notes that I've written throughout the process, but nothing ready to present in a gallery, yet. I'm hoping that motivation to write will show up soon, otherwise I'll just have to set a timer, tie myself to my desk chair and force myself to begin. 

Trayvon Martin bulb; Martin had purchased skittles and Arizona before he was chased and killed.