Antisocial Behaviors

There's a certain titillation for me when I make work concerning bad or anti-social behaviors. It reminds me of a kid who's testing to see how close she can get her finger to the hot burner. I am, after all, a good, private-school-educated girl. Educated way beyond my intelligence, in fact. I was groomed to be a highly social individual, which isn't a bad thing, of course. But I believe I lost, or never found, something along the way. An edge, the propensity to speaking up, figuring out creative ways of being heard. As a teacher I'm aware of how the noisy opinion-staters get the attention while others hold back. 

The work addressing anti-social behaviors is an extension of the Bullying series I've been working on for a little over a year. I see so much bullying going on in the name of being heard. The loudest voice wins!  At this point, however, I believe that when it's quiet, and we're listening, we can truly be heard.

A story about my Mom, an artist

Art can be an always-and-forever thing. It's always there if you need it and it lasts forever if you want it to. On September 27, 2013, a speeding driver hit my mom's car, leaving her seriously brain damaged. She had 2 major brain surgeries, she lived, but she had to re-learn everything. She was a painter, large expressive landscapes. She couldn't walk, swallow, or remember anything about the accident. She did, however, remember her painting. She's frustrated and sad about not doing it anymore. We encourage her to try painting again but she believes they wouldn't begin to meet up with her expectations.

A friend brought her a small flowering plant. It had already started to wilt by the time Mom took out a felt tip pen and began drawing the plant. She's continuing to create the small drawings. The brain damage has left her with a tremor which affects the quality of her lines. I find these recent drawings to be her most daring and poignant work. 

Dirty Little Business Man

Okay, so…the Dirty Little Business Man is about 5” high, 4” wide, and 3” deep, he’s made of low-fire earthenware. Black acrylic paint was rubbed onto his surface to give him that dirty look. This character has been with me for a long time, always representing some form of Authority. When I was younger he was my Father, when I went away to college he was Anti-war, Anti-government, Anti-draft, Anti-republican…He appears periodically, at times like this, when there’s a serious distrust of big business, law enforcement, and government.

We’re at a boiling point. We’re shooting each other, we don’t trust each other, and we’re not listening to the so-called powerless ones among us. In some ways the DLBM represents both those with the power, and also those without. Nothing is simple. He’s wearing his power suit but his arms are permanently affixed to his sides, rendering him not only incapable of moving but also vulnerable to outside forces. There are, of course, decent, honest people in government, in the police force and in big business. And my apologies go out to the male species for representing this character as a man. As we know, our institutions of power need to include more women and people of color.

I see an endless number of Dirty Little Business Men installed onto walls everywhere. They can serve as reminders that a suit is just a suit. 

If you are interested in purchasing your very own dirty little business man click here to access my new shop!

Welcome to My Home

Hello Readers,

My purpose for starting a blog is to let you in on the stories behind the stories, the ones that inspire the "Dirty Little Business Man", "Pushover", and others. Let me start by introducing you to my home and basement studio.

Thanks for your interest,

Mia