Kintsugi repairs (‘golden joinery’) on a suite of items not usually considered for conservation. A meditation on consumerism, accumulation and the definition of beauty via Wabi Sabi.
The Dada Suite – Four works inspired by and incorporating the art of Dana Atchley, III
Insufficient Memory
forgotten, faintly missing
rings from fingers, socks from shoes
lovers, others too captivated
shallow water, faded blues
keys and switchplates, matchless maidens
cups from saucers, me from you
lights left burning,
ghosts left yearning
turn it off and call it thru
(Print on canvas, text, 4’ x 5’)
Rush - Public domain photograph from Nasa.gov, integrated art and text, laminated, 36” x 46”
TURN AROUND. be there. beside me, behind me, whispering to me the next new thing.
the crest of this night is not yet near, so much done more left undone. too few backward glances,
exits and detours still unexplored. the life in the mirror is not so close.
Hold me tighter till this raw day beckons and I surrender.
the memories too many too tender too new to yet hold them in my hands her heart his mouth.
they burn as if to release the ache, catching flame
at sunset over the bay, inking the sky a smoky tattoo.
(Public domain photograph from Nasa.gov, integrated art and text, laminated,
36” x 46”)
It All Depends On How You Keep Score
Heat transfer to canvas, poly pellets, batting,
100 shredded photocopies of scanned art, vinyl, thread,
72" x 33”
Alt View
Wilson Stop, foggy morning
rings of waves
row of nets
string of lights
row of fish
ring of nets
row of roofs
string of fish
ring of light
(3 Framed Prints with text,
2’ x 9’)
“Saint Carmen (do not be lured by the express, sometimes the stairs are best)” – click to see detail
“In ‘The Future of Art in a Postdigital Age’ Mel Alexenberg defines “postdigital art” as artworks that address the humanization of digital technologies through interplay between digital, biological, cultural, and spiritual systems, between cyberspace and real space, between embodied media and mixed reality in social and physical communication, between high tech and high touch experiences, between visual, haptic, auditory, and kinesthetic media experiences, between virtual and augmented reality, between roots and globalization, between autoethnography and community narrative, and between web-enabled peer-produced wikiart and artworks created with alternative media through participation, interaction, and collaboration in which the role of the artist is redefined.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postdigital
Virtual Virtue – Art with Integrated Text
Unseen Works – A place to park my ideas, some created but unshown, some unexecuted and some still in the development phase
Bio
My work focuses on the domestic voice, utilizing the tools/materials of the home/wife/mother often in combination with written word. The experience of consuming each piece requires participation: the audience bends, tilts their head, scans, circles in an interactive dance with the art.
Education:
M.A., English/Creative Writing, University of Illinois at Chicago
Exhibitions:
Burning Man, Black Rock City, NV
Digital Storytelling Festival, KQED, San Francisco, CA
Chicago Gallery Week, Chicago, IL
Central Illinois Planned Parenthood Calendar
Artists against Aids benefit show , Champaign, IL
Lemp Neighborhood Art Gallery, St Louis, MO
Contact
Feel free to reach out with inquiries
Who is Blulou?
BluLou was created in 1979 when I was working as a doorman at a Blues bar in Chicago. A combination of “Blue Lou” Marini (saxophonist in the SNL/Blues Brothers Band. The group frequented the bar while they were filming “The Blues Brothers” movie) and the great 30’s singer Blue Lu Barker (11/13/1913 – 05/07/1998).
The name became an easy alternate identity, both in the bar, where she was much cooler than the broke college student I really was, and during my stint in the 90s as a blues DJ at public radio station WEFT in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
It was at U of I Champaign that I was introduced to the wonders of the World Wide Web.