This was a performance that took place during my term at The Border Art Residency in La Union, New Mexico. In this performance I used a tractor that I had previously wrapped in aluminum foil as a temporary public art project and later used it in a performance to receive the new decade in 2000. The performance consisted of me wrapping myself in foil, like the tractor, and sitting still for as long as I could. The performance lasted 7 hours without me taking a break. That new year was a crazy event with the Y2K taking place.
Farmall tractor, aluminum foil and clear tape
La Union,. New Mexico
Year, 1999
I bought several rolls of fiberglass insulation because I noticed each roll had different shades of pink. I mixed the different shades of insulation to give it this “fleshy” look to the insulation as I placed it inside the plexiglass boxes. I decided to use clear plexiglass boxes to not have any other material distract the viewer from seeing the beauty of this material. The 9 plexiglass boxes are 3 inches deep to be able to make crevices while placing the insulation in the boxes and to not have a completely flat surface adding to the look of flesh.
Plexiglass boxes, fiberglass insulation
9’ x 9’ x 3”
Year 1999
Collection of El Paso Museum of Art
I was attracted to the different shades of blue in these heater filters. At this point I was working with materials that I could buy at a warehouse store, could make and display the piece for several days and then return the materials to the store and get a full refund.
Fiberglass heater filters
Year 1998
Strings of thread left over from clothing manufacturing companies in the border region. Some manufacturing companies in El Paso, Texas take advantage of the lower wages in Cd. Juarez to manufacture or assemble goods and then import them back to the United States. I filled a wood and glass box with the left-over strings from some clothing manufacturing companies in Cd. Juarez and put the light-colored strings on one side and the dark strings on the other side as a representation of the border region. Both sides are connected by a single red string.
Wood, glass, thread
31” x 41” x 3.5”
Year 2006
Bought several brands of foam insulation to have different shades of yellow in the piece.
5.5’ x 8’
Foam insulation
Year 1999
Metal gears and chain
22” x 35”
Year 2005
This piece is inspired by the tin tubs hanging in street markets in Mexico.
Custom made plexiglass box filled with blue green hair gel.
Plexiglass, hair gel
31” x 41” x 2”
Year 2006
This conceptual piece questions what is art, by presenting this work outside of a gallery, in public of something that is not considered art. The piece is a stack of cement bags that was poured with water for a week. In the process, these bags became a sculpture of concrete presenting the viewer with an opportunity to admire the details of what is otherwise ordinary.
This is part of a series of painted virgins that I did.
(Need to find artist statement in my external memory)
Ceramic, acrylic paint
Looking for a book in the library I found a book written in Braille. When I opened it I was attracted to the way the Braille looked and felt on the white pages. I started thinking about Braille as a form of sculpture. My first though was to do something in Braille but on a billboard. It would be a word but the Braille would be so large that it would be sculptural. Nobody would be able to read it but it would be a word that is visible but unreadable by viewers seeing the billboard. The round shapes would be casting a shadow that would be moving as the sun moves.
With that idea of Braille as a sculptural form that would not be readable but had meaning, I bought some electrical boxes to make a phrase in Braille and hang the boxes on a wall. The only phrase that came to my mind to write was “See You Later Alligator.”
Metal electrical boxes, nuts and bolts
68” x 28” x 1.5”
Year 1998
Electrical boxes put together with nuts and bolts to form a floor piece that reflects ambient light in different ways depending on where it is viewed from.
Metal electrical boxes, nuts and bolts
80” x 80”
Year 1999