"Mandragora" is the botanical name for the mandrake plant. a rooty, parsnip like plant thought to have mystical and medicinal powers. Apparently a sedative in small doses and an insanity producing narcotic in large ones, in Medieval times Mandrake was thought to provide cures for demoniacal possession.Mandrake roots were thought to resemble little men. Placing a root in your house averted bad luck and brought prosperity. The root only grew under the gallows of hanged murderers, and to dig a root was sure to kill you. Dogs were tied to the root to pull it from the ground so that the shrieks of the angry mandrake would not harm the human.This piece was inspired by the 2006 movie, Labyrinto del Fauno, by director Guillermo del Toro, a very visually inspiring director.
Deep Water came to me after I went through a couple of very disturbing and traumatic episodes in my life during which I had to re-examine strongly held beliefs I had about myself and the people closest to me. One of these incidents was the death of my father, which revealed a lot of dark things. The text in this piece reads: "Mariners use caution when traversing these waters". It is a piece of text copied from a nautical map to indicate dangerous shoals. The piece is largely about the loss of innocence that comes from seeing the weaknesses in ourselves and others, and accepting them for what they are. On a broader level, it is about losing the trust we had in people who were supposed to be taking care of us, like our government. I tried to imagine the most innocent thing in the world, and what came to mind was an infant mermaid- a mer-baby. This is a skeleton of a mer-baby, the death of innocent ideas, beliefs and trusts. How do we navigate the abyss of the soul when we no longer have a boat to cling to? Do we give up, or become better swimmers?
I did two different RoD paintings, both were inspired by two things which fascinate me: deep sea creatures- the kind that live in the super hot vents and deepest abyssal zones; and the surrealists game "Exquisite Corpse" in which one person creates a third of an image or story, another person creates another third, and the third person creates the last part. This creature came from studying numerous photos of deep sea fish and combining them, a la Exquisite Corpse, to arrive at these strange and whimsical triptychs.
Available at Ten Women, Venice.
After several days of torrential rains, the opening "Hearts and Flowers" party at the Folk Tree Gallery in Pasadena seemed like it would be a wash out. But at the last minute, the skies cleared and it turned into one of those amazing afternoons in Los Angeles with crystal clear skies, clean air, cool breezes, and warm sun. The party (from 2pm to 6pm) was a smash, with the artwork beautifully displayed by curator Gail Mishkin. There were lovely snacky things (my favorite: Caprese salad-on-a-stick: grape tomatoes, teeny mozzarella balls, and basil leaves, skewered on satay sticks, drizzled in balsalmic vinegar). At about 4pm the skies became threatening again, but the gallery goers continued to arrive. It's a shame the Folk Tree has to move (rents are going up), so support them while they are still at their Fair Oaks address so that they can reopen in another location.