NYC has always bathed in light, part of which often takes the form of extremely bright, intrusive illumination that is used to surveille black and brown communities. Floodlights and flashlights are used to promote a sense of safety-I argue that the safest parts of the city are the darkest. Safety Skin™ reflective skin spread is used to reflect light directly back to its source to disrupt the gaze, and trick biometric surveillance technologies that map and aggregate black bodies.


One time I was waiting for material at a metal supply store near rural Alfred, NY and the man behind the counter asked a girl and her dad if they were going huntin’ that weekend, to which she replied “You know it! If it’s brown it’s down! Unless it’s my dog. He’s brown!”

“Blind” - Archival Inkjet Print, Found Barnwood Frame



“Coffin” - Ceramic,  Facsimile Prints of Photographs listed on eBay,  Dollar Store Birthday Candles, Custom “Playground” Scented Birthday Candles, Epoxy Coating, Porcelain




   





“Playpen” - Cast Pink Porcelain.

play-pen(n.)


also playpen, "enclosure in which a young child may play," 1916, from play + pen 

pen(n.)


"small enclosure for domestic animals," Old English penn, penne, a word of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Old English pinn "pin, peg" (see pin (n.)) on the notion of a bolted gate or else "structure made of pointed stakes."





“Expensive Shit” - Ceramic, Cubic Zirconium Gemstones, Acrylic, Linoleum, Epoxy, 100% Natural  Cheviot Carded Sliver Wool, Photoshopped Scintillations



“Birthday Cake of Shit” - ceramic, wood, linoleum, acrylic, chrome fan Covers, custom “Indolic Rose” scented birthday candles, porcelain, epoxy

To be decadent is to be in a state of moral or cultural decline, where wealth and pleasure are enjoyed at the expense of ethic or civic responsibility. Self-indulgent luxury looks like millions spent on art while thousands sleep on the streets. For some reason, people have decided that decadent is a way to describe rich chocolate cakes.  In the fragrance world, indolic refers to the deep, narcotic, and sometimes fecal or animalic scent of certain flowers. It comes from indole, a naturally occuring compound.  Indole can also be created synthetically, producing a crystal-like substance that smells like shit, till it’s massively diluted.   In Outkast’s diss song “Roses,” Andre 3000 wasn’t lying when he sang  “I know you like to think your shit don’t stank-but lean a little bit closer ... roses really smell like poo-poo-ooh.”   
Flowers are pretty but too many can smell like shit.  Too much chocolate can make for a cake that is too rich.  Too much money and overripe character go hand in hand.  Beneath the surface of a bruised piece of fruit one may discover rotten flesh.  The dose is the poison.  Whether it’s riches, roses, expensive clothes, cars, or even art - having too much of anything is toxic.



   







     


“Malestrom” - Cast Aluminum from CNC milled foam model.  Found 3D Model of a He-Man torso was scaled, stretched, and twisted on Rhino3D software.