Coyote TOD: A Book About Death - Redux

As one of the original artists from the first A Book About Death exhibit in NYC, I recently received an invitation to create a piece for the new Ray Johnson and A Book About Death exhibit. This piece is based partly on a long-standing argument between two aunts as I was growing up, partly on what death looks like to me over two years after losing a loved one, and partly on what Coyote continues to teach me.

Coyote TOD

Come see the Art!

In a flurry of creative activity I managed to wade through the dust and chaos of my studio (currently a construction zone) and produce some new pieces. I now have four new pieces -- just in time for the Coastside Mixed Media Artists Show and Sale going on the month of June. Here's a sampler. You can go to my Flickr page to see them closer - or, hey, come to the show!

Coyote Road - the video!

The video is here! Check out the transformation process of the hubcap for the Landfillart project. Click below to watch or you can go directly to YouTube.

Coyote Road

The hubcap is done! Click on the image below to see a larger version.

As a mixed-media artist, I found the Landfillart program exciting on many levels. I spend a great deal of my time—in both my art and my life in general—exploring how to use or reuse “everyday” objects in ways different than they were originally intended. I am fascinated with the idea of changing our perspective about “trash”. In addition, my art is all about the exploration of our internal, personal worlds and their connection to our physical surroundings. My art is often deeply personal, working a great deal with animal teachers and the natural landscape. I love the idea of using an item like a hubcap to take these concepts to another level. I wanted to explore our relationship with our cars and, as with so many other material items in our lives, how we use them to insulate ourselves from the mess, chaos, and unpredictability of life. We have turned our cars into rolling illusions of control and safety. Coyote is the teacher in this piece—pointing out that there really is no control or safety. Life is messy. The road is messy.

This is a mixed media piece, with a rusty, “gritty” finish, using original artwork and digital images, acrylic skins, and pieces of a broken vintage mirror. The hubcap is turned around with the inside acting as a frame or nicho for the elements. The photo of the empty road in the middle of the Arizona desert is actually from a snapshot I took while on a road trip in 1982. The original drawing of Coyote was scanned and then printed onto watercolor paper using digital grounds. The title: Coyote Road.

Yeeeeeowch! Coyote and the blank canvas.

"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."

When applying for the Landfill Art project, I had to come up with a basic idea of what I wanted do with an old hubcap. No problem, I thought. After some reflective thinking and meditation I knew what I wanted to do, and that Coyote is the animal teacher for this project (such a hog for the spotlight...). So it should come as no surprise that Coyote's energy is all over the place lately.

Here's something to think about. Overall, there were an estimated 250,851,833 registered passenger vehicles in the United States according to a 2006 study. OK - now think about how many different models and makes that must encompass, how hubcap designs differ, and how many more vehicles--and hubcaps--are in landfills throughout the U.S. from older models. You get some sort of idea of the variety of hubcaps that must be out there.

So. My hubcap was a surprise. And not really what I had in mind.

I can:

1. Cram that square peg into the round hole and try and make my original idea work, godammit, no matter what


2. Complain bitterly and be a whiny diva-wanna-be and ask for another hubcap to fit my detailed specifications ("I just can't work in these conditions!")


3. Sit back, let Coyote take me where he wants me to go, and see what this particular "canvas", and the Universe, have in mind for me and this art piece

I'm voting for number 3. Good luck with that...