Nancy Drew
Region: Northeast
After spending several years creating glitter and flocked versions of some of my favorite 20th Century, Abstract Expressionist paintings in the "Artists Series," I have more recently embarked upon the "Porn Series."
Using VHS video porn box covers as my source material, I paint canvases in my 'trademark' materials of flock and glitter. Taking cues from Abstract Expressionism as well as Pop and Cubism, I alter and fragment imagery from the world of porn into something very much my own.
Painted in soft, fuzzy flock and sparkly glitter, images traditionally created for men become feminized and beautified beyond instant recognition. In abstracting and aestheticizing the porn box covers, blatant texts have all but vanished, graphic depictions of sex are only alluded to -- and yet the corporeal themes are embraced by me and still remain central to these works, as they hopefully vibrate with familiar if unexpected associations.
I see these works as artistic transpositions that can't help but turn the prurient aims of their sources on their ear. And yet one could say these paintings are done as much in the spirit of celebration as they are in the spirit of ironical critique. The work becomes a tool with which to explore, to attack and to celebrate. Ultimately, however, the meaning of these transpositions is meant for the viewer to decide.