Depraved Symbol of Establishment Bloat

Acrylic and collage on panel, 5.5" x 11".

I'm a recycler. I cull from everywhere.

In my collage process, I juxtapose raw images together along structural grids. I choose the images when they make me feel something, even though I may not know why. I then paint into the assemblage to transition the images together. While painting, I am reminded of incidents and feelings buried in my subconscious. I then figure out what I am saying, and eliminate elements that do not play into the story.

I had a big ol' car like this once. I used it as a symbol to show about myself until I realized that I did not like what it was saying, and I sold it for twice what I bought it for, after putting 35,000 miles on it.

This is a tiny component of a larger image I am building. I now realize that this symbol is wrong for the rest of that image, so as I write this, this image is being submerged beneath a layer of opaque white.

Eventually we all will be recycled. The universe is a wheel-gear.

Beatledämmerung

Acrylic and ink over collage on masonite, 11" x 14".

A tribute to the Beatles, who 'turned me on.' I have been working on this piece for over a year; it started first as a simple pencil drawing, which I then inked, traced, layered with paint and then with collage. Then finally, last night, I painted into this composition for 5 hours, eliminating many things. "Beatledämmerung" is the change left over.

There are many hidden references secreted into this piece.

This image of The Beatles is based on the their film "Help!", which I believe was John Lennon's signal to the world of the band's impending disintegration - thus the reference to Richard Wagner's opera, "Götterdämmerung". Here, The Beatles have abandoned their cocoon-like business suits and are now emerging into the envelope of gases surrounding the earth. They are dissolving.

They are making their bodies into soil, so they can vanish but in fact never be gone.